You taught me to love again
by DaisyMeadow
Summary: What if the others never found Nick after Clem ran of with Pete? What if Nick met a girl and fell in love?
1. When I first met him

**When I first met him**

The boy was running through the woods, running without a pause, probably fleeing from a herd of lurkers. There have been so many lately. The boy, or should I say man, because he seemed to be around twenty years old, was carrying a rifle. Approaching him would not be the cleverest idea. From high up in my tree I had a perfect view over a large part of the woods. This way I didn't have to worry about any lurkers sneaking up on me.

Not making a sound I walked over to the next large branch of my tree in order to follow the running man with my eyes. Near that old shed he stopped. He looked around, and his eyes almost met mine. I climbed up a bit higher and hid between the canopy layers of my tree. When I dared lower myself I saw he had entered the shed and was now trying to keep the lurkers, who were desperately trying to burst open the old rotten door, out. There were just three of them...

I could easily take them out. I hesitated. I knew nothing of the guy. What if he'd just shoot me on sight like any random asshole would do nowadays? I clenched my dagger in my hand. I could just hide if he'd come out. Helping a stranger was risky during the apocalypse, but like my mother always used to say, _we are on this planet for one reason, to help each other._ The lurkers seemed to have had a different opinion on that when they ripped her apart.

Surviving had been tough since I left my group. Staying was too dangerous. Everyone had been going insane, some had even suggested eating the least fit people in order to survive. That crossed my boundary and I had quietly left that very night.

How long ago did it happen? I completely lost my sense of time. It could have been days, weeks maybe even months. I had no idea. If only I knew what time it was…

I made up my mind. Helping a stranger wasn't going to help me in any way. I could get killed instead. But just as I wanted to jump over to another tree, and forget this guy ever existed I heard him scream. The lurkers pushed the door open and started limping towards him. The guy screamed once more. I couldn't leave him like this. He desperately held on to his rifle and tried to knock the nearest lurker out with it.

'Just shoot.' I whispered.

I couldn't let these things kill him I had to help. Leaving him like this would make me no better then a lurker.

I quietly jumped out of the tree and approached the old shed. I kneeled down, hid behind a big tree trunk and picked up a rock next to my feet. I threw the rock against the shed's doors in an attempt to lure the lurkers away from him, but the guy's screaming was so loud the rock didn't alert the lurkers, they didn't even realise it. I stood up and snuck behind the three walking corpses. When the guy saw me his eyes widened. With my left hand I grabbed one of the lurkers' T-shirt, and cut open his head. Gross brownish blood splattered on my face and clothes, I always hated this part. The other two walkers now turned around and came towards me. My grip around the dagger was so firm my knuckles were probably white. I dashed forward, holding the dagger, not like a sword, but with the blade beneath my wrist so that I could quickly pull it out of my lurker victims if I had to.

I found just the right place on its neck and cut off the next ones head. I wasn't sure whether I killed it or not so I turned around. The body was lying there, but the head was still viscously trying to somehow bite me in my ankle. I kicked it away. Of course… destroy the brain first. Couldn't these goddamn lurkers give me a break?

It turned out they couldn't because the last lurker now jumped on top of me, I had completely forgotten about that one. This one used to be a rather fat man, and me, and my sack of bones I called a body, were being flattened underneath. What ones used to be his head was too close to my face, he tried to bite my nose and I just managed to avoid his bloody jaw. This was it. I thought. This was what I got in return for helping a stranger. I was going to die. This random lurker was going to bite my face off and there was nothing I could do…

I felt something trying to violently take the dagger from my hand. Because of my old reflexes I clenched to it as if it could save my life, even though I knew it wouldn't. Not in this situation. But if I was to die here and now, I would with the closest thing I had left to a friend in my hand. The lurker kept trying to sink its teeth into my face.

'Please!' I suddenly heard a low voice yelp in frustration. 'I'm trying to help you!'

What did he mean, wasn't I trying to help him?

'Let go!' he screamed. ' For god's sake let go of your knife!'

I finally understood. I forced my fist to open and he snatched the dagger out of my hand. With a last gargle the lurkers' head fell on my chest. The man helped me by pushing the heavy body of me.

I was shaking all over. He kneeled down and pulled the dagger out of the now forever lifeless body at me feet. When he handed it to me he looked catious.

'Thanks.' He said as he looked at me with his light grey eyes. 'I'm Nick.'

'Cammie.' I managed to whisper in between the gasping, and I smiled. 'It's a dagger by the way.'


	2. Just the two of us

**Just the two of us**

The rain poured down on the old shed's roof.

Before the apocalypse I had hated the rain. I always wanted it to be warm. I wanted to visit the beach with my friends, sunbathe, and swim or watch boys… All these things seemed like distant dreams now, fake realities that could never be true. Every time I'd realise these things had actually happened in the past I'd be depressed, wanting this nightmare to be over. I wanted to wake up in my bed, run downstairs and find my mother there, making me breakfast. No matter how often I slapped myself across the face, no matter how many times I pinched my cheek, waking up wouldn't happen. I had given up on it.

The reason I wanted it to rain was because of the sound. It confused the lurkers, and almost made it possible for me to ignore their constant grunting and gargling.

Here I was, in an old shed, together with Nick. We just saved each other's lives, and now he just sat there in the corner of the shed, depressed, staring at the floor not wanting to tell me why.

After we'd recovered from almost being eaten, we had closed the doors of the shed, and put a heavy crate in front of them. Nick's screaming had alerted several lurkers, who had been trying to break through the door with brute force for about half an hour. It seemed like forever when they finally got distracted by some loud bird and walked of. Luckily they did, because I wasn't sure how long the old doors would have lasted otherwise, or how long it would have taken them to figure out there was an almost broken window they could probably crawl through if they broke the glass. I still didn't dare go outside to check how safe it actually was. If they'd still be there I could get in trouble and one almost death was enough for tonight.

My stomach growled. How long had it been since my last meal? Although you could hardly call a hand full of berries and some filthy river water a meal. There were many different kinds of berries further down south from this part of the forest, but I only knew one edible kind, and had never seen the rest of them. The winter was coming and soon berries wouldn't be a reliable food source any longer.

'You hungry too?' I asked Nick. My voice was an annoying disturbance of the quietness in the shed. Nick didn't respond. 'Just trying to keep the conversation going' I mumbled. No reaction.

I stood up and knocked some dust of my jeans.

'I'm gonna look for some food, you never know.' He just sat there, lifeless, almost more lifeless then the average lurker around here.

As I walked towards the back of the shed I slid my finger across one of the shelves.

'Nothing but dust…' I mumbled. I didn't really expect him to react to anything I said, but it seemed impolite to just completely ignore me. I couldn't blame him though; all polite people had been eaten long ago. Only the most tough roots survived this fire, and for how long? How long would it take before I'd burn as well?

I took a white cloth from one of the shelves and found about eight jelly pots containing a questionable fluid.

'What is that stuff?' Nick asked. It was the first thing he'd said in quite a while, his voice sounded raspy. 'Let me see.'

I wanted to argue with him for his bossy tone instead of just talking to me, but I kept my mouth shut. When I brought him one of the jars he opened it and took a sniff. The strong fragrance of some sort of alcoholic beverage quickly burned through my nose, and I stepped back as I made a disgusted face.

'Whiskey.' He decided as he took a sip.

'You probably shouldn't drink…' I started, but he had this empty look in his eyes again and for the brief hour I'd known him I learned he wasn't going to answer me with that look in his eyes anyway.

I took the dusty white cloth, tried to get the dust of it by unfolding it, and coughed because of the tickling sensation when I inhaled the dust cloud.

I sat down cross-legged and started cleaning my precious dagger with the now even filthier white cloth.

When I finished, I wandered around aimlessly, not wanting to sit down and rest, but also not knowing what to do. I looked around some more, apart from a still and some old junk there really wasn't anything useful in the shed, and I quickly got bored. I knew I should be happy with every peaceful moment I got during my life in the apocalypse, but being in this shed for hours with a strange guy that only cared about alcohol wasn't how I wished to spend the night. The shed was shelter from the rain though, and it couldn't hurt having some company, even if they wouldn't talk. At least I could talk to myself and make sure I wouldn't forget how to use my voice.

In the corner of the shed I found a small box, and it contained candles! The darkness had depressed me, it would be at least a bit cozier with some candle light. _It could even get romantic_… a small voice in the back of my head sarcastically pointed out, and I laughed out loud because of how silly it sounded. Love during the apocalypse wasn't possible. As soon as you'd dare love anyone, they'd die. I learned that the hard way.

'What?' nick asked. He was becoming more talkative because of the whiskey.

'Nothing…' I mumbled as I shook my head.

He shrugged his shoulders. 'Whatever.'

'Look.' I said, more enthusiastic then I actually felt, 'I found candles!'

'Did they come with some matches?' he asked as he looked away surly.

I got two fire stones out of my pocket, I had found them in the mountains when I was younger, thank god my younger self was smart enough to take them with me when my mother and I left home looking for safety from the walking corpses.

It took me a while, but after some struggling I managed to light one of the candles.

'Who would have thought girl scouts had any utility?' I asked sarcastically.

He laughed. I knew it was because of the Whiskey, but I was relieved he wasn't too mentally unstable, that could have gotten dangerous.

I sat down on the opposite side of him. The ground was hard and cold, but the candle I'd placed in the middle of us gave me hope. I suddenly remembered the broken window, stood up and somehow managed to cover it up with the white cloth. This way we wouldn't be too visible.

Nick laughed.

'What?' I asked.

He shook his head, still laughing. I was almost afraid he had some sort of mental breakdown, but when I sat down again he pointed at the candle.

'Almost romantic isn't it?' he laughed even louder.

'Shh!' I whispered. I knew he was drunk, and I had just sarcastically pointed it out myself as well, but that remark made me blush anyway. The rain kept pouring out of the sky, which was strange. Because unlike the clouds I felt happier then I had ever been in a long while.


	3. That makes us even

**Hey y'all **

**quick announcement, I uploaded 2 chapters this weekend because I probably won't have time to upload anything next week. Sorry if its not bloody or romantic enough now, it will get better! **

**Hope you'll enjoy and please leave some reviews, I'd love some feedback ;) **

**That makes us even**

'I had to kill my mom.' Nick said without raising his head.

We hadn't talked for a while, and I started dozing off, but when he said that I couldn't help looking at him. The way he sat there, the way he talked, it was all so sad. The alcohol now seemed to be making him more depressed than happy.

'Sounds weird when I say it out loud huh?' he mumbled.

'H-how did it… happen?' I asked carefully. 'You don't have to say if you don't want to…' I quickly added.

He was quiet, and I almost thought he was just going to ignore me again, but then he started talking.

'We took care of someone who got bit.' He mumbled. 'That person had been doomed right from the start. When she turned my mom-' his voice cracked.

'Its okay.' I said. 'I get it.'

'This is so fucked!' he said in a raised voice, and I anxiously turned around hoping there weren't any lurkers nearby. 'This whole world is fucked, we live in a fucking nightmare!' His voice calmed down a bit, 'I mean what's the point, we'll just march to some new place and more will people die, its never gonna stop…' he looked me in the eyes, 'and now, its gonna happen to us.'

I raised one eyebrow. 'I don't know about you, but I don't plan on dying any time soon.'

He ignored me, stood up and took the last two Whiskey jars. I recoiled when he pushed one of the jars in my face. 'Hey Cammie,'

Wow he remembered my name.

'Have a drink with me.' It didn't sound like a question, more like an order. I looked at the filthy jar containing the Whiskey and wanted to refuse, but when I saw that look in his eyes, that desperate and sad look, the same look when he spoke about his mother's death I couldn't refuse, and I accepted the jar. When I did his fingers brushed against mine and he got closer. I hadn't been this close to another living person in forever, and it felt nice, comforting. He toasted and when his jar briefly touched mine a pure _cling_ sounded through the shed. I took a sip and struggled to swallow and not immediately spit it out the burning fluid that now lit my throat on fire. When the apocalypse started I hadn't been of legal drinking age, and when I came across alcohol now I'd just ignore it. I never expected it to taste this bad though.

Nick laughed when he saw my disgusted reaction to the Whiskey and took the jar from my hand.

'I know I said it already, but thanks again for saving me Cammie.' If you hadn't been there…'

'Don't worry about it.' I said with a smile.

'I…' he got closer, his face was now but a few inches away from mine. He was so close I saw the stubbles on his chin, I saw my skinny self in his light grey eyes, and I could feel the heat of his body…

A loud bang far away interrupted the moment and we both turned around to face the door. We didn't breathe, didn't move, but nothing followed, not even the grunting of the lurkers. And that worried me even more.

'Gunfire…?' I whispered. He nodded, walked towards the back of the shed, sat down and closed his eyes. Even if I had wanted to leave tonight, it wouldn't be possible anymore. The walking dead were one thing, but having to deal with people with guns as well was too much for me.

The next morning I woke up before Nick did. The first thing I noticed was that I had fallen asleep in his arms. Or rather, I had fallen asleep and he'd wrapped his arms around me as if I were his teddy bear. I stood up and tried not to wake him, that wasn't too difficult, because he slept as if he hadn't in years. For some reason I felt sad I had to free myself from his embrace. Noweone had hugged me for a long time, and even though I knew he probably hadn't meant to hug me, it just happened in his sleep, I felt butterflies in my stomach.

'No!' I whispered to myself. I couldn't get attached to this guy. If I would, he'd die.

My muscles were soar, that's what you get for falling asleep on the floor. I looked over to the pile of empty Whiskey jars and smiled. Someone would be suffering from a hangover, and it wouldn't be me.

I was so hungry… maybe I'd be able to find some berries in the forest. I felt responsible for Nick, but for some reason I had the feeling he wouldn't be waking up any time soon.

I ran through the forest, quiet. I hadn't come across any lurkers in a while. Occasionally I had move away from the path because of a grunting noise in the distance, but apart from that the forest was quiet this early morning. I came across a bush with some red berries. They almost looked like olives, but red. I was quite sure I had eaten those before, picked a few, and put them in one of the Whiskey jars I had taken with me. When I pushed some low hanging tree branches out of the way, I found a shallow stream. The water looked clean enough. I cleaned the red berries, and filled the whiskey jar with the berries with water, I wished I had taken a second jar with me. I decided to wait eating the berries, and first bring them to Nick, despite my protesting stomach.

To my surprise, it wasn't that hard to find my way back to the shed, but when I heard grunting from inside my heart skipped a beat.

'Nick…?' I whispered. This was answered by more grunting. I took my dagger out of its hilt removed the crate I used to barricade the door from the outside and carefully pushed it open. Nick was lying on the floor. No blood, no lurkers, just a guy suffering from a hangover. I smiled and put the dagger back in its hilt.

'Hey there…' he mumbled. 'Ya got any aspirin?' he laughed because of his own joke as he got up. He looked sleepy.

'No aspirin,' I answered, 'but I got us some berries.' I showed him the jar containing the water with the berries drifting around in it. His eyes widened and he looked more awake.

'I found them deeper in the forest,' I started, as I pointed towards the open door. I was interrupted as he stood up and snatched the jar out of my hand. When he took the lid of he took one of the berries out and closely examined it.

He grunted again, but this time it sounded desperate, not because of his hangover. 'Please, please don't tell me you ate these.'

'N-no.' I answered in confusion.

His face relaxed. 'This,' he began as he held the berry close to my face, 'is English yew. Extremely poisonous, without an antidote.'

'But they look just like the berries that have kept me alive since this apocalypse started!' I defended myself.

'Yeah,' he said with a sarcastic smile, 'they do. But I've lived on a farm close to the forests and every farm boy knows these,' he threw the berry in the air and caught it, 'equal death.' As he closed his fist the berry juice dripped down his arm, it looked like blood.

I felt stupid. 'Well thanks for saving my life.' I mumbled. 'I guess that makes us even.'


	4. Nostalgia

**Hey y'all,**

**I had some spare time today so SURPRISE another chapter :) The story might seem a bit slow right now, but it will get better! (I hope) I'm looking foreward to writing Ch 5, I'm not going to spoil too much, but let's just say we'll probably come across some familiar faces... ;)**

**Hope you'll enjoy please leave some reviews I'd love some feedback :D**

* * *

**Nostalgia**

'C'mon.' Nick called while he made a gesture with his hand indicating I had to follow him.

We had been walking through the forest for a while, Nick had shown me a berry kind that was edible, and I was a little less hungry now. Of course berries don't fill up your stomach like a warm pancake would, but its better ten nothing. Pancakes… it had been so long since I last had those. Unless I'd come across a functioning farm without lurkers, I'd probably never have one again…

'Where are we going actually?' I now asked Nick.

'Back to my group.' Nick answered without looking back. 'We live in a big cabin a little while up North from here. I'm sure they won't mind someone else, we just added a little girl to the group so why wouldn't you be welcome?'

'Group…' I mumbled, and then I realised what he meant and my eyes widened. 'Oh no, no no no no no.' I shook my head in disagreement.

'What?' he stopped walking and I bumped into him. If he hadn't grabbed my wrist I would have fallen in the mud.

He pulled me up, and I now leaned against his chest. For a second I just stood there, he didn't push me away, but then I realised how close I was, so I stepped back and awkwardly cleared my throat as I turned away to hide my red face from him. I blushed too easily…

'What?' he asked me ones more.

I saw his face was red as well. How cute… Wait, What? Cute? No Cammie! This guy isn't cute!

'Me and groups don't go together.'

He raised an eyebrow.

'I'm more of a lone wolf you see…' I added.

He folded his arms in front of his chest.

Gah, did I have to spell it out for him? 'I don't like groups, because I only take care of myself okay.' I now admitted. 'There I said it. When it comes to it I don't care about anyone but myself, cause I'm just like any other bitch out here I don't give a shit about others.' I started walking again.

'The Cammie I know is different.' Nick said refusing to take another step.

'That's the point,' I said as I turned around. 'You don't know me!' I snapped in a raised voice. 'If you take me with you I won't be helping anyone if it comes to it.'

'You helped me, when you could've easily died yourself.' he said as he carefully approached me as if I was a wild deer ready to run from him if he made a sudden move.

'Listen, I am not going to live in a group. End of the discussion! I want to make my own decisions.'

His body was but a few inches from mine, he raised his arms as if he wanted to hug me, but suddenly dropped them again. 'Fine.' He mumbled. He sounded grumpy again, like the sober Nick that evening in the shed.

'You'd be another mouth to feed anyway…' he mumbled, so soft he probably thought I hadn't heard it.

I suddenly felt bad, he probably meant to be nice, and I'd turned him down as if he asked me to kiss a lurker.

'Nick, I'm s-' my apology was rudely interrupted as a lurker grabbed me from behind, I'd been so lost in thought I hadn't even heard it from behind me. I screamed.

The lurker tried to bite me in my neck, but missed when Nick ran towards it and pushed it away from me. The corpse landed on the ground, and suddenly jumped towards Nick, I didn't expect it to get up this fast. I got my dagger out of its hilt, jumped up and pierced the lurker's bold skull just as it wanted to sink its bloody teeth into Nick's neck.

As I turned around I saw three more lurkers, coming towards us.

'Shit!' mumbled.

'We gotta get outta here!' Nick screamed.

He started running, and I followed him. I didn't even care about where I went anymore, I just wanted to get away from these flesh eating corpses. There were so many lurkers, on the path there were two others, and I ducked towards the right to avoid the flailing arms of lurker number… what was it nine? I didn't even have time to count.

As we ran, I noticed a young tree, with some low hanging branches, easily climbable, and high enough. But then my gaze shifted over to nick, running in front of me. I hesitated. He wouldn't be able to climb with his riffle hanging in the way, and besides, the branches probably wouldn't support him. A skinny girl was one thing, but another grown up man would be too much for the tree, and if we'd fall down we might a well lay down on a plate because we'd undoubtedly be lurker food.

What I said earlier popped up in my head, _I only take care of myself…. _

Not this time, I decided. And I ran passed the tree when we got near it.

A lurker appeared right before my nose as it crawled out of the bushes, I still had my dagger out, destroyed his brain and violently pulled the dagger out of the bleeding skull as I was running. My hand was all red because of the blood dripping from my dagger. One down, about… I turned around, eleven more to go.

I started to get exhausted from the running, luckily I saw a cabin looming in the woods. The back door was ajar, and nick ran in without hesitation. This must've been where he and his group lived.

When I got in he closed the door and locked it.

'That door is pretty secure, it's survived more lurkers then this.' He reassured me.

When I looked through one of the kitchen windows I realised several lurkers had given up the hunt and there were now just five more outside of the cabin. It seemed like the rotting piles of flesh were too stupid to recognise a door and they no wandered outside wondering where their running Happy Meal had went.

That calmed me down and I now took a first look at where I was. 'Big cabin…' I mumbled. 'With how many are you?' I asked Nick, no answer. I realised he had walked into the living room. 'Nick?' I followed his muddy footsteps and my jaw dropped. The living room was a huge mess, pillows had been ripped apart, revealing the soft white stuffing that was spread around the room, furniture had been knocked over and several personal belongings of the inhabitants had been scattered around the floor.

'You guys… aren't the neatest of people are ya?' I joked. But he didn't respond.

'What the…' he stammered.

'Fuck.' I finished his swear. 'Can I look around?' I asked. He didn't answer. 'I'll take that as a yes…' I mumbled as I made my way upstairs. All the bedroom doors were opened and the mattresses had been treated the same way as the couch. Everything the owners ones had was either broken or scattered on the floor. I picked up a torn apart book from the floor, 'The Gurgles…' I mumbled with a frown.

'It's the same here…' I yelled. Someone had searched through this cabin as if they'd been in a hurry, really angry or both…

I heard Nick's heavy footsteps on the stairs and he now stood behind me beholding what ones must've been his room.

My eyes noticed an out of place detail in the messy room. 'What's that?' I asked as I leaned down next to a big brown cabinet and tried to decipher the boyish writing someone had carved on the cabinet's side. I tilted my head a little and nick lowered himself besides me.

'Its says… _Where we almost killed Clem…_ what's a Clem?' I asked confused.

Nick stood up and ran downstairs.

'Where are you going?' I yelled. 'Nick?'

He opened the door without hesitation and ran towards a small shed outside of the cabin. There were just two of them left, but the lurkers noticed us when we ran towards the little shed. He opened the doors and ran in. When I entered I closed the door behind us.

'Oh my god…' I quickly covered my mouth in order not to throw up. 'What's that smell?!' I got to know what it was when I turned away from the door, and saw a dead lurker, stuck to some sharp thing that penetrated his body. His intestines were showing. 'Gross…' I mumbled. 'Why have that in your shed?'

'As if we have it there on purpose!' Nick snarled as he searched through the shed like a mad idiot. 'This is where Clementine almost died!' he explained, not pausing his search. What was he even looking for?

'Oh… I get it Clem is a person. That makes more sense…' I mumbled as I looked around. A large wooden plank that had probably hung on the wall ones leaned against the wall now. I noticed a big gap in the corner of the shed and covered it up with a convinienlty placed toolbox. It wasn't much, but at least we'd noticed if something tried to crawl in. Just then when I made my way past the dead lurker, I noticed something white sticking out of its jaw. It was well hidden, and that someone in a hurry probably hadn't seen it, if they even searched this shed.

I approached the luckily lifeless lurker, and removed a scrap of paper from his mouth. It made a disgusting squishy sound as I pulled it out.

'Oh god… Nick you owe me one…' I mumbled as I handed him the bloody piece of paper.

Nick read it and his eyes widened in horror.

'Well?' I asked out of curiosity, 'What does it say?' He passed the bloody paper back to me. In the same boyish handwriting it said something like:

_Nick, Carvy showed up. Moving North, Luke. _It was difficult to make out because of the bloodstains.

'Whose… Carvy?' I asked Nick who now sat on the floor, desperately covering his eyes with his hands.

'CarVER' he corrected me. 'We're fucked, I'm never gonna find them, but its not save here either I gotta follow them up North before he comes back to check this place again.'

'Is this Carvy that dangerous?' I asked calling this possible threat Carvy on purpose.

Nick sighed. 'I'll explain later.' He stood up. 'Lets go.'

'There are lurkers outside of this shed.' I pointed out as I sat down on the wooden floor cross-legged. 'I'm not going anywhere until I'm not hearing the grunting anymore.'

Nick sat down restlessly. 'We really have to go now!' h said as he anxiously looked at the door.

'Do not rush, we might be here for a while.' I said as I sighed, even though I didn't really mind the shed apart from the smell of death hanging in the air.

'How nostalgic…' he sarcastically mumbled.

'What do you mean?' I asked.

'You've forgotten already?' he asked as he turned to me with a tired smile. 'This is kinda similar to how we first met.'

I laughed. I was starting to get used to laughing again, and that wasn't a bad feeling…


	5. Goodbye

**Hey y'all,**

**I'm sorry, I know I promised you some familiar faces in chapter 5 but the chapter was getting too long so I decided to split it in two parts. The upcomming weeks are going to be very buisy for me, so I might not be updating for a while. **

**hope you'll enjoy, please leave some reviews, I'd love some feedback ;)**

* * *

**Goodbye**

'I think, the coast… is … clear.' I mumbled as I quietly pushed open the shed's doors.

Nick stood up. 'Finally!' he sighed in relief just a bit to loud.

'Sst!' I hissed as I gave him an angry look.

The lurkers had apparently moved. I couldn't hear the grunting anymore.

'Well eh…' I started, awkwardly scratching the back of my head. Good luck with finding your friends…'

'W-wait, aren't you coming with me Cammie?'

'That note said they moved up North right?' I asked.

'Yeah, people say the cold there slows the lurkers down, I know it sounds like bullshit but maybe its true, its worth a shot right?' he asked, apparently still struggling with the idea I wouldn't be coming with him.

'Oh it slows them down yeah.' I laughed.

'Please Cammie, you have to help me, if I won't find them I'll have no one left.' His voice cracked and he desperately grabbed my wrist. I looked at his silver eyes, he caught me with his gaze and wouldn't let me escape. I forced myself to look away.

'Listen, Nick I am not moving up north, it is far from safe there.' I said irritated as I stared at the mossy forest ground.

'Give my one good reason why.' He said letting go of my wrist.

'Well, let's start with a simple question. Tell me Nick, what happens to a steak if you leave it in the sun for, say 2 days?'

He looked confused. 'Steak…what does that have to do with-?'

I continued, ignoring his confused behaviour, 'It expires.' I now answered my own question. 'Lets make it more difficult, what would happen to the same type of steak if I put it in the fridge?'

'I guess you'd … preserve it that way,' Nick answered sounding annoyed. 'But again why-'

I interrupted him again, 'Indeed Nick, that's right. Now if we take that situation and imagine the steak is a lurker, what would happen if a lurker moves to a warmer part of the country?' this time I didn't wait for him to answer, 'It would rot, wither away, die because of nature.'

'I guess that makes sense…' Nick mumbled as he scratched the back of his head.

'Lurkers up north last much longer because of the cold. Yes they are slowed down,' I continued before he could say it, 'but they could hide in piles of snow, or appear in large herds and if one grabs ya you're done for. Because there are more up north due to all the people moving that way thinking its safer. North is dangerous as hell. And I don't intend to throw myself in herds of lurkers, thank you but no.'

'Alright I guess that's possible, but how can you be sure?'

'I've been there…' I mumbled. 'And there's no food, no safety… and no hope.' I added.

'Fine. I'll leave on my own then…' he mumbled surly.

These friends must be really important to him.

'So this is… goodbye?' I asked insecurely. I had only know Nick for almost two days, but the idea of never seeing him again made me feel sad, more sad then it should.

'Seems that way.' he answered looking away from me as he shrugged. But when his gaze met mine again the look in his eyes softened.

I held out my hand for him to shake it, a polite human gesture that seemed so out of place in this broken world.

'I-' before I could finish what I wanted to say he pulled me towards him and hugged me.

This time it was a proper hug, no teddy bear hug wen he was asleep, or half a hug when he pulled me up if I almost fell, this was an honest hug and I was squeezed against his T-shirt. It felt nice. I hadn't had this feeling since my mother died, the feeling it was safe to love, that glimpse of hope he gave me seemed to light a fire inside of me. A fire, which I thought, had extinguished long ago, but it had been smouldering inside of me, waiting for a spark to open me again and to let those emotions out.

This couldn't be happening. Those first few days without my mother I had been heart broken, I had isolated myself from the world and that almost resulted in my own death. It was the main reason my group wanted to eat me, because I was a burden. After a while of being alone I woke up from that state of being, sort of. I had promised myself there and then I would never love anyone ever again. I couldn't. Emotions made one weak, and weakness always results in death.

I tried to free myself from his embrace, but he hugged me tighter.

'Please…' he begged, 'just one more second…' he seemingly forced himself to drop his arms and he cleared his throat. 'Stay alive Cammie.' He ordered me.

'You to Nick.' I forced my mouth into a smile. It must've looked incredibly fake, because I didn't feel like smiling at all.

What is wrong with you Cammie? You've known this guy for two days. Forget him and move on already! I told myself. I turned around and walked away, ignoring the burning pain in my chest that tried to pull me back towards him.


	6. A White Lie

**A White Lie**

Southward, on my way to safety. I didn't look back as I walked away from the cabin. I thought the pain would get less if I created some distance between me, and my few memories of Nick.

On my way to safety…

But what did safety really matter if you had no one to share it with? I was alone again. But this was what I wanted right? Then why was I feeling so depressed?

I looked behind me. The cabin was already a small point on the horizon. Soon it would be nothing but a memory.

'Forget about him Cammie…' I mumbled. Oh yeah, from now on I'd have to talk to myself again…

I sat down, leaned against the bark of a big oak tree and before I knew it, tears were running down my face. I cried. I cried without a noise, but the fact I was still able to cry surprised me. I hadn't felt this way since my mother had died… I felt this way because I'd lost Nick. But Nick wasn't dead. Nick was still alive. I was tired. I couldn't even stand up anymore. I wanted him to be here with me, I wanted him to pick me up and carry me to a place where there would be nothing but safety. I wanted to lean against his comfortable chest and forget everything.

The gargling of a lurker woke me up, it limped closer to me and I got up. I should've ran, I had enough time to move, but I couldn't. It was just like that time my mother died. I couldn't even care anymore. But this time there was no group that could safe me, I was on my own. This time I'd have to safe myself. I looked up at the hollow eyes of a once female lurker.

'Its all because of you!' I screamed as the tears kept running down my face. 'Its because of you fucking lurkers this world is so fucked up!' I knew my words couldn't reach the lurker but I had to release my anger some way. I got out my dagger and without the least bit of mercy, stabbed it in its knee. It fell over and tried to bite me as it did. All it cared about was food. Blood was all over the green forest ground. I examined my dagger, the dark red blood dripped from it on to the ground.

Red had once been my favourite colour, not anymore.

The lurker grabbed my ankle and in a reflex I stomped on its head. The gargling stopped and the quietness of the forest returned. It drove me crazy. I needed sound, I needed company, I needed Nick.

I really felt like a teenager not being able to make a choice, but I made up my mind now. I had to find him. I needed him, otherwise I'd go insane and then I'd lose the last bit of humanity I had left in me.

I dried my tears and started running towards the cabin. I had to hurry and get there before it got dark. I didn't want to spend the night there, but if I got there before the last light of the day would disappear I might be able to follow Nick's trail and find him on his way north. I just hoped he hadn't moved as fast as I had.

As I ran I was aware of how much sound I made, but it didn't bother me. All I could think about was getting over to that idiot, I wanted to feel what I felt when he'd held me in his arms.

When I managed to make out the contours of a lurker on my path I got out my dagger and struck the blade into its skull. I kept running, only holding in to occasionally pull my dagger out of a lurker head. I had never felt this way before; I wanted to get to Nick so bad I wasn't afraid of anything. I avoided a lurker and pushed another one away.

When I finally got to the cabin it was dusk. Night would be falling soon. I wouldn't have time to stop if I wanted to find him tonight. I walked over to where he'd huged me, and realised there was a narrow path not far from the shed. I followed thefootprints in the moist mud. 'Nick...' i whispered as i looked back at the cabin, 'I'll find you.'

* * *

Running through the woods was a boring activity honestly. Nothing worth mentioning happened apart from a few lurkers here and there. I decided I shouldn't feel to lucky, and instead of killing, I now just went a little out of my way to avoid close calls. It was dark, and I had been running for hours. Of course I couldn't run nonstop, and I started getting really thirsty. I didn't even know if Nick had gone the same way as me. I really hoped he had, because if he hadn't I'd probably never find him again. The thought of that made me nervous and I decided not to think about it for the time being.

For all I knew I was heading up north, but without the sun to guide me I could also be running in circles…

It was too dark. I could not see the path anymore and I could barely make out what was in front of me. I just decided it was time to climb a tree and rest when I heard the sound of rustling leaves.

Something was coming, and it wasn't a lurker, their movements were too fluent for that. Hope flared up from inside of me. Maybe it was Nick!

But when I heard a little girl's voice that hope cooled down almost immediately. It seemed like a little girl, and a man around Nick's age were making their way through the woods. All I could do was hide behind a tree and lurk in the shadows, hoping they wouldn't see me…

'C'mon,' a man's voice whispered. 'Let's make sure this area is clear and then we'll get the others and set up camp here.'

'Why can't we just spend the night were the rest is waiting right now?' the little girl asked.

'We'd be too close to the main road.' The man answered. 'I don't want anyone to ambush us in our sleep.'

The fact he said_ anyone_, instead of _anything_ worried me. That has to mean there is more then just the lurkers in this area.

There was a silence for a few seconds and I held in my breath when the stopped walking nears me.

'It's gonna be okay Clem. You're safe with us.' The man reassured the girl.

I gasped for air. Clem,

_Where Clem almost died… _the words echoed through my were Nick's friends!

'Who's there?' The man asked in a somewhat raised voice. Crap my breathing had been too loud... How was I going to get out of this one? I tried to sneak away, but my attempt failed as a branch snapped underneath my feet.

'Come out!' the man demanded.

'We have a gun!' Clementine added. It sounded weird to hear that from a little girl.

There was no point in hiding anymore, I didn't want him to put a bullet through my head just in case…

'Good evening.' I said as I stepped in the faint moonlight that seeped through the thick clouds.

The guy had his gun out and was pointing it at me. The little girl stood behind him. I raised my arms above my head.

'I come in peace.' I said with a smile and to my relief the guy lowered his gun a bit.

'Good evening.' He now said. 'Kinda late to take a stroll through the forest don't ya think?' he asked.

'I could ask you the same thing.' I answered. 'I'm…' I hesitated, was it smart to tell them my name? Oh well, what could it matter? 'Cammie.' I finished.

'I'm Luke, and this is Clementine.' He said as he turned around to point at the little girl. She didn't look scared at all. Instead, she raised one eyebrow as if she was still judging me, which she probably was.

'Nice eh… to meet ya both.'

'Also headin up north?' he asked me.

'Sort of.' I answered as I laughed a humourless laugh.

'Where'd you come from?' he asked.

'Further down south.' I answered. Keeping my answers vague on purpose, refusing to give too many details.

Luke's eyes widened. 'Have you maybe come across a guy named Nick?' he asked me. 'Tall, black hair, wearing a cap, blue eyes…?'

'Carrying a riffle?' Clementine now asked.

They both looked at me waiting for a response. All I had to do was say yes, tell them I'd been looking for him as well, they'd help me look for him, I had to admit I'd seen him, they were his friend, I had to.

'No.' I answered. 'Haven't come across anyone in a while.' My voice interrupted the tense atmosphere.

Why did I say that?! It was as if my mouth decided to ignore my brain's orders.

Luke looked disappointed. 'Yeah I guess that figures. Its a big forest after all.' He looked me in the eyes now. 'If you come across him, please let him know Luke is looking for him.'

I nodded. It seemed like he wanted to say something else but he hesitated.

'We're also headin up north, if… you want you could come with us. We have a map of the area. And after all strength is in numbers.'

'Luke…' the little girl mumbled as she shifted her gaze over to me and squeezed her wolf like eyes.

I was touched by how nice this Luke was to me, even though he didn't even know if I could be trusted or not. I felt bad for lying about Nick, but I couldn't take it back anymore, that would seem even more suspicious. I just had to find him first. When did I become so selfish, what happened to me, why couldn't I just forget this guy and live on?

'No thank you, I prefer traveling on my own.' I mumbled as I realised Luke was still waiting for an answer.

Luke gave me a nod. 'Okay but be careful, there are quite some lurkers in this area.'

'Yeah I know…' I mumbled.

He raised one eyebrow.

'Eh… I mean thank you.'

I walked away from the guy and climbed a tree further away. What had I done? Even if I'd find Nick now, I'd feel guilty because of lying to his friends. 'It's just a white lie…' I mumbled to myself when I hung high up in the tree, gazing at the stars and the full moon. 'These people abandoned him when he needed help… I was there for him… he'd be better of without them… right?' I whispered to myself, trying to talk this feeling of guilt away.

* * *

**At last part two of the long chapter 5, thanks for the patience guys ;) ****I hope you enjoyed, leave a review, I'd love some feedback**


	7. The Big Threat

**Hey guys,**

**This is a bit longer than usual because you probably won't be hearing anything else from me next week.**

**Hope you'll enjoy and please leave some reviews :)**

**Love y'all**

**(And for the people who read this chapter when it just came out, I realised I accidentaly posted the un-edited version. This is the final version of ch 7 sorry ;) )**

* * *

**The Big Threat**

_I stood on a bridge. A lurker approached me, from the left side, and Nick stood on the other side waving while shouting desperately. _

'_C'mon!' he screamed. 'You gotta run, now!'_

_The lurker got closer, it was now just a few meter away from me, but as it moved towards me, it's appearance started to change, I realised it wasn't a lurker at all, it was my mother._

'_Mom!' I screamed and I wanted to run towards her as the tears ran down my face. _

'_No!' Nick shouted, and I stopped running immediately. 'Cammie what are you doing?! Get over here now!'_

'_Honey,' my mother's pleasant voice whispered above the howling wind, her long brown hair waved around her face, just like mine probably did. Everyone had always told me I looked a lot like my mother. She kept getting closer and she now presented me her hand._

'_Come with me. We'll go to somewhere safe. You and I together. Come with me, you're tired. Cammie, it's time to give up.'_

_I was, I was tired. Tired of running, tired of surviving, tired of killing._

_I turned around and faced Nick. He raised his rifle, lined up a shot and pointed at… my mother!_

'_No!' I cried. 'Don't shoo-'_

* * *

**BAM!** With a dull smack I fell out of the tree I had been resting in. that had never happened before. It must've been because of that nightmare just now. I had dreamed about my mother. That made me realise how much I actually missed her. She told me she and I would be safe together. But then…

I frowned.

Nick shot her.

My head hurt. The early morning light seeped through the trees.

I checked my dagger, the only reliable friend I had left, and followed the path north. I hadn't come across any one in two days. Since I found Nick's friends before he did I figured he hadn't travelled as fast as I had, so I hadn't moved as fast as I usually did. It really was time to move on though.

My stomach growled loudly to indicate its disagreement.

'Alright…' I mumbled, 'breakfast first…' I was so hungry I couldn't even think straight anymore. When I came across a bush with some beautiful dark purple berries, I walked towards it and wanted to pick some, only able to think of how hungry I was. As I reached for one off them, picked it and brought it closer to my mouth, Nick's voice echoed through my head just before it touched my lips, and I remembered the conversation about the berries when he showed me what was edible and what not.

* * *

'_How about these?' I asked as I got up and showed him the purple berry. He gave it one look. _

'_Deadly nightshade.' He decided without hesitation._

'_Let me guess…' I started sarcastically, 'extremely poisonous?_'

'_Bingo.' He answered as he briefly touched the tip of my nose. He sure loved being smarter then me._

* * *

I dropped the berry.

'Wow Nick…' I mumbled, 'you're saving my life without even being here.'

Breakfast had to wait a little longer. I got up and turned around. My heart skipped a beat.

'Don't move.' A scratchy voice demanded.

A middle-aged man with a moustache and a big brown coat pointed his gun at me.

'Hands above your head.' He ordered. I looked at the small gun he was holding, it was probably loaded and I decided this wouldn't be the time to anger him so I raised my arms above my head. Sadly he wouldn't lower his gun like Luke did a few nights ago. I was shaking, it wasn't possible to get used to a gun in your face, not even if it happened on a regular basis.

'Good Morning sir.' I tried,

He wouldn't move a muscle.

'I'm not looking for trouble, I was just hungry so I wanted to eat some of these berries.'

'These aren't edible.' He sarcastically pointed out.

'They …aren't?' I asked, hoping my acting skills were not to bad, 'well thank god I haven't eaten them then! I really have to go now though so thank you for warning me but…' I started backing away from him, but he wouldn't fall for it.

'I didn't think so missy.' He said as he nodded to the ground, 'on your knees!' I sighed as I did.

He approached me and pointed the gun against the back of my head.

'Let's see how dangerous you are,' he said as he started searching me.

He started untying my belt, pointing a gun at me was one thing, but now he went to far. 'What the fuck do you want from me?' I snapped. 'Rape me, in the middle of a forest during the fucking apocalypse? That's a clever idea!'

He ignored me and removed the belt from my waist. As he took the dagger out of its hilt he examined it.

'Fine dagger…' he mumbled. I had to admit I was impressed he recognised it as a dagger.

'Hey Johnny!' the man called. I flinched because of the loud voice so close to my right ear.

'Yeah?' I heard a man's voice behind me.

'You said you lost your knife right?' he asked. The man didn't answer out loud so I assumed he just nodded. I didn't dare move, this guy would shoot me, no doubt.

'Here.' the man with the gun said. 'This is better then a knife. Make sure you don't fucking lose it again though, cause you aint getting anything else.'

'Don't worry, I won't.' he started walking away but suddenly stopped as if he remembered something important he'd forgotten. 'Thanks!' the man said as I heard him disappear in the woods. I cried from the inside, that dagger had saved my life so many times. I knew it was childish, but apart from my humanity it was the only thing I still valued in this life, and now it was gone. Some random asshole with a gun took it and gave it to some random idiot.

'Where are they?' the man asked as he pressed the gun against my head again. My knees hurt from sitting on the forest ground with all it's twigs and stones hurting my knees.

'I don't know what you're talking about.' I said as calmly as possible. He hit me in my face. The smack was so hard I could hear it echo through the forest and I fell over. It left me with an unpleasant tingling sensation on my cheek.

'Don't you fucking lie to me!' he yelled.

From how I lay on the ground I looked up at the man, all that made him dangerous was that stupid tiny little gun of his… if only I could somehow steal it from him…

'I don't fucking know what you're talking about…' I said ones more as I stroke my cheek where he'd hit me.

'I heard you talk about Nick, and he appears to be one of the people I'm looking for.' He now said. 'Don't fucking pretend you don't know them, cause I know you do!' he said as he hit me in the face again. When I licked my upper lip I tasted blood.

'My BROTHER Nick is out there somewhere with the rest of my group consisting of my dad and a few other men, looking for food. They all have guns, and I don't know with how many you are but I wonder if you could take them on. At least some of your people would die so I wouldn't risk it.'

He didn't seem scared, just surprised. And he probably didn't believe me, but he did seem to be considering the possibility.

'Yeah, there are more Nicks out there.' I said as I got up. He didn't stop me. 'Good luck finding your people.' I said. The sarcasm might have been too obvious.

'I'm not done with you yet.' he said. He took a walky-talky from his belt, and started talking. 'Bring me a rope, I've got someone who might know the ones we're looking for.'

'Was she with them?' the voice on the radio now asked.

'Not sure,' Carver answered 'but I don't have time to listen to her lies now. We need to move. I'll break her sooner or later.'

'What if she doesn't know them after all?' the voice on the radio now asked insecurely.

'Better safe then sorry.' Carver answered with a grin. He did realise I was sitting on the ground just a meter away from him right?

He lowered the hand with the gun he was pointing at me a bit when he turned away from me, and that was my signal. I dashed forward and snatched the gun out of his hand.

'I didn't think so Carvy.' I said with a laugh as I pointed the gun at him.

Calmly Carver spoke to the person on the radio, and it frightened me how relaxed he seemed. 'Get everyone over here, we've got an annoying little-' he didn't have time to finish as I fired. I missed on purpose to distract him, and started running. I only turned around ones and gave him the finger. '

'Fuck you Carvy!' I yelled as I looked at his face. He looked furious.

_Good job Cammie… a new enemy…_

His backup had apparently arrived, because I heard them shoot. One bullet hit a tree next to me, another one missed me by an inch, but the one after that hit me. I bit on my lip so that I wouldn't shout.

I forced myself to keep running. As I did I desperately tried to stop the bleeding on my left arm. When I looked at my hand it was dark red because of my own blood. I had seen lots of blood, daily. But seeing myself bleed like this made me lose my stomach.

I could only think one thing, _Fuck Fuck Fuck._

My vision got blurry, I couldn't stop now, I had to keep going, who knew what they'd do if they caught up to me. I looked back as I kept running. This was a lot different from fleeing from lurkers. They weren't too far from me. And they started getting closer. Were they running faster, or was I running more slowly now? I started seeing things double, and that made it difficult to aim. I tried shooting one of the smudges in the distance. I missed, of course.

I couldn't run anymore, I was tired. _Time to give up…_

I bumped into a tree and it knocked me backwards.

Trees, my last chance.

The tree was perfect, easily climbable, broad branched, and lots of leaves to hide me. But climbing it appeared to be more difficult when you had a bullet through your arm. A sharp pain shot through the bleeding arm as I tried to pull myself up with it. I let go of the branch and fell on the ground. As I got up I realised a lurker was making its way towards me. As if it couldn't get any worse!

Carver and his men weren't far now. If they saw what I was trying I'd be done for.

'C'mon Cammie!' I cried quietly. 'You can do this, I know you can!'

With the last strength I had left in my body I pulled myself up with one arm, and swung my legs over the branch. I was still close to the ground and the lurker grabbed my ankle. I desperately kicked in the air hoping I could kick his bloody head of before it could bite me, but I missed. Desperately trying to not fall on the ground again I put the gun from my left, to my right hand, turned my upper body around and raised my wounded arm. I couldn't see anything because of the tears and blood blinding my vision. I pulled the trigger.

The lurker let go of my ankle, and I heard a smack, as it's lifeless body fell over. I got it! I couldn't believe how lucky I was, but I didn't have time to think about it.

I pushed myself up with my good arm and climbed a level higher. When I couldn't see the ground anymore because of the leaves I let the dizziness take control of me. Was this how I would die, high up in a tree? That would be ironic. Right before I lost consciousness I thought one thing; before I die, I want to lose myself in those silver eyes ones more.


	8. Time To Give Up

**Hey there,**

**Before I forget, I just wanted to say thanks for the kind reviews so far :)**

**It makes me really happy to hear you guys enjoy the story! **

* * *

**Time To Give Up**

I slowly opened my eyes. All I saw was green. Wasn't heaven supposed to be white? And if I wasn't in heaven, wasn't hell supposed to be red? Even though I didn't know what could be worse anymore, living or afterlife in hell.

When I tried to move my right arm, I groaned. The pain pulled my right back into existence. I was able to lift my head, and everything started coming back to me, Carver shot me, or maybe one of his men did, that didn't matter. I should've been dead, or rather, undead.

But I wasn't.

I grabbed my wrist, taking your own pulse just in case you were a lurker was a weird feeling, but you never know. Did the person inside the lurker completely disappear, or were they caught inside their rotting body, unable to control their actions?

I was drenched in blood, and it seemed as if my arm was still bleeding. I looked down, despite me being injured I'd climbed pretty far up. Now how in the world would I get down?

I tried to move my weight from one branch, to another one that was close to me, as soon as I accidently leaned on my wounded arm I screamed.

'Nice and slow Cammie…' I mumbled, 'you don't want to attract attention now…' my voice sounded weird and raspy, as if it hadn't been used in years. I was thirsty, and as soon as I thought about water, I thought about food. Man I was hungry!

Something hurt my thigh as I tried sitting in a somewhat different pose. Oh right, Carvy's gun. I took it from my pocket and checked if it still had ammo left, it didn't.

I had used my last bullet on that lurker. I wanted to throw the now useless weapon away, but changed my mind when I saw what it looked like in my hand. It certainly looked more threatening then a dagger, even though I felt my dagger was worth a thousand of these stupid tiny guns. If I came across any other human enemies I could at least bluff my way out… I slid the gun back into my pocket.

'Now or never…' I whispered as I jumped over to another branch closer to the ground, it hurt! It hurt so bad. The tears in my eyes immediately made it seem like I was underwater, chopping my arm off seemed less painful like this, but I had to keep going now.

I jumped again, and bit on my tongue so that I wouldn't scream. I tasted blood, great, as if I hadn't lost enough blood already…

I was close to the ground now. I tried to blink the tears away and slowly slid down the branch. I felt better having solid ground underneath my feet again.

The lurker that attacked me when I'd climbed the tree lay and inch from my feet in the dark red grass. I didn't really want to, but couldn't help looking at its face, it really had been a lucky shot, just a little bit to the right and I would've missed it for sure.

I shifted my gaze over to the sun. Time to move. From the way I walked I must've looked a lot like a lurker, because literally every muscle in my entire body hurt…

It didn't take me long to find back the path, but without any useful weapon I found myself freaking out over every sound in the forest, and that was very tiring. I was hungry, thirsty, and cold, I felt dizzy, and I had a massive headache because of the blood loss. My arm was still bleeding. How much blood could I still afford to lose? I felt like a walking leaking juice box for the lurkers.

With my good arm a pushed away a bush, I and couldn't help but gaze. I'd been walking through the forest for days, no, months. For the longest time I'd seen nothing but trees and dirt, so a change of scenery was welcome, even though the scenery usually was my least concern. I found myself near a huge red bridge over a big lake with a strong current. On the other side if the bridge I could just make out what seemed to be a tiny building.

That gave me hope, even though I knew any idiot moving up north had probably checked it twice, there could be some supplies left, maybe something to eat, or better yet, a functioning weapon…

I made my way towards the bridge and staggered, I couldn't even stand anymore, but collapsing like this in the open would be disastrous, I had to at least get inside the building, just a little further.

Walking on the bridge was as scary as walking on a rope over a burning net, not as if I'd ever done that before, but you get what I mean.

The bridge had its middle part made of wooden planks, and the sides made of steel. The wooden planks made some cracking noises, and I quickly realized that part of the bridge wasn't reliable, so I walked on the steel sides. But I was so dizzy I staggered after every step I took and it felt like I could fall over the sides any moment.

Everything got more vague every second. I felt like lying dow on the cold steel, sleeping and never waking up again. I couldn't even feel the cold anymore, was I dying?

A pile of flesh was lying on the bridge, barely recognizable as a human being. I wanted to ignore it, but something wasn't right, the pile of flesh moved, it got up and saw me. My breath got stuck in my throat.

I had no weapon, and no power to do anything. There was no way out.

I moved away from the bleeding, groaning corpse as fast as I could, and lost my stomach as I almost fell over the side of the bridge. I wanted to walk on the planks, that seemed safer, but the lurker was faster then me, since when were fucking lurkers faster then me? Speed had been my most important advantage against these monsters, not anymore. It jumped towards me. I slipped when the heavy body collided with mine,

And I fell over.

Just in time my wounded arm managed to get hold of the edge of the bridge and there I hung. The wind howled and played with my hair, as if it found the whole situation amusing.

My wounded arm now had to support the weight of my entire body. It hurt so bad, and I screamed, I cried, but I couldn't let go, I wouldn't be able to swim in the freezing water, if I'd fall, I was done for.

The lurker now crawled closer to the edge, and brought his disgusting chunk of flesh, which had probably been his head ones, closer the hand that was so sweaty and bloody it was slowly losing its hold of the edge of the bridge.

_Time to give up…_

I'd rather die then let this thing enjoy one of my fingers. I wouldn't be his meal.

So, I let go.

This was the end. I would die. Soon I would see my mother again, we'd be safe together. I closed my eyes, ready to accept the faith that lay in store for everyone in this cursed world. _And now, its gonna happen to us… _Nick's words echoed through my head. I was going to die, but he was the last one I would think about before dying. What would it feel like, would it hurt? I'd find out now.

Or not? Something, or rather someone grabbed my wrist just before I was out of reach, and he now pulled me up. It was my wounded arm, and the pain shot through me as if he pulled it off, but I lived, he'd saved my life!

When I sat on the bridge I couldn't breathe anymore. I looked over to my left and saw the lurker's corpse laying there, the closest thing it had had to a head, had been pulverized by the shoe of my rescuer.

I slowly raised my head to look the face of the guy that had saved me. I heard him before I saw,

'I guess we're not even anymore.' He joked while bending over to catch his breath as well.

Tears started welling up in my eyes, I had really grown weak, I cried about everything lately, but this time it wasn't because of sadness or pain, I cried because of relief, because of happiness.

'Nick!' I screamed and ignoring the pain throughout my entire body as I jumped up and fell into his arms. He staggered to maintain his balance, but wrapped his arms around me. He obviously hadn't expected me to react this way.

'I-its okay…' he mumbled and I could feel his chest resonate as he spoke. I pressed my face against his T-Shirt and listened to his reassuring heartbeat. He bent over and picked me up. My feet rose from the ground. I hadn't felt this safe since before the apocalypse, and I closed my eyes with a tired smile.

'C'mon.' he said as he started walking, 'lets get you over to that building. When I saw you walking on this bridge I thought you were imitating a lurker but you're really exhausted aren't you?'

I wanted to answer but I couldn't. My body felt twice as heavy as it did just a second ago, and all I felt capable of doing was sleeping. I concentrated on the peaceful rhythm of his steps. He walked over the bridge much faster then I could ever have.

'Just a sec.' he said as he put me down on a bench. I felt weak, I didn't want him to leave me, and it annoyed me. I couldn't take care of myself right that moment. I wanted to stand up and be the strong Cammie I had been almost a week ago. But that was the Cammie without Nick. And whether I liked it or not, I needed him.

He picked me up again and carried me inside the small building. There he placed my on a bed. It had been so long since I'd last touched a bed, or something of the like…

It felt soft, like a cloud. And yet I didn't want to lie down, I wanted to lean against him, because i knew he would be more comfortable then any bed we could ever find out here.

What had happened to me? Since when did I talk like a love sick teenager?

I heard Nick gasp for air, 'Y-you're bleeding!' he whispered.

'No kidding…' I mumbled back as I finally opened my eyes. 'I was shot by your friend Carvy.'

'You met Carver?' he asked in disbelief as his eyes widened.

'Lets talk about it later…' I groaned as I looked around.

The building really was as small as it seemed, maybe even smaller. There was an improvised bed, which I now sat on, a desk with some useless junk, and a big trunk near the window.

'Yeah… yeah… eh... let me see that arm.' Nick now said and I shifted my gaze over to him. He hadn't changed bit since a few days ago and yet he did seem different from that asshole I saved in the shed that day.

He carefully unrolled my sleeve, he did it as gentle as possible, but exposing the wound like that made the stinging pain worse, and I clenched my jaw as I groaned.

'Luckily it looks like it's just a scrape wound.' He mumbled as he brought his face closer to my arm to examine it.

'What does that mean?' I mumbled, to tired to understand anything. I had lived in the cities for most of my life, so I never had to deal with things like that before. Ofcourse I knew what it meant, but I had no idea how to treat it...

'It means the bullet isn't in your arm; it just scraped open your skin. It hurts like hell, and there's lots of blood but its not as bad as still having the bullet in.'

'How can you tell?' I asked. He didn't seem like the kind of person that could tell different types of wounds apart, let alone see from the outside whether I had a bullet in my arm or not.

'When I was younger our dog ones accidentally got in the way of a shot during the hunting season.' He explained. 'I thought for sure he was gonna die, there was blood everywhere, There wasn't enough time to take him to a vet, so my Uncle took care of the wound, and he wanted me to help. My uncle told me the bullet hadn't hit him it only damaged… his… skin…' he started talking slower. 'Oh god… Cammie,' he said as he looked my in the eyes, his expression was more serious than I'd ever seen it before.

I was impressed Nick had helped treating a wound like that. Who would've thought he actually needed the knowledge one day?

'What?' I asked, as I carefully tried to touch the skin above the wound. Bad idea. I grimaced.

'How long ago did this happen?' he answered my question with a question, as he pressed the back of his cold hand against my forehead.

'I dunno…' I mumbled. 'I fainted so it could've been this morning, it could've also been yesterday. Why?'

'This is a big open wound…' he said as he gave me a helpless look. He didn't want to say it, and I started to realize what he meant. 'We don't have anything to clean it with...'

'No, no no no no no!' I shouted sounding more desperate with every no. This couldn't be happening. I started to hyperventilate and the flood of tears that had just stopped ran down my face ones again.

He grabbed both my wrists in order to calm me down, but it didn't work. The dizziness got worse.

The unspoken words hung heavily in between us, but it was as if Nick had shouted them in my face.

**_Cammie, you're infected._**


	9. Burning Daylight

**Burning daylight**

The silence in the small building was unbearable. I was infected, I wouldn't be making tomorrow. I would be walking around as a flesh-eating corpse, unless Nick would kill me before it could happen, but he'd been forced to kill his mother before, would he be mentally strong enough to do something like that again? I couldn't ask him that.

'Well what now?' I asked. I sounded tired, but not just because of my lack of sleep. I was tired of all of it, tired of the fucking apocalypse, tired of how every time I thought it couldn't get worse it did. Maybe dying wouldn't be that bad after all.

Nick hesitated. 'I- I don't know…' he finally mumbled with a defeated expression on his face.

'Then leave.' I said, but it hurt. I didn't want him to.

He sight heavily, slowly blinked once, as if he had to man up to tell me what he was about to say, and looked up at me, 'I won't leave you. He said, 'for once in my life I won't be a weakling.' He made an attempt to check the wound again, but I recoiled. 'Don't come near me!' I yelled, 'I don't want to feel the sudden urge to bite your face of…' I added quietly.

'Listen' he started,

'No!' I screamed as I backed away from him until I felt the wall against my back. 'Just go, leave me, and don't come back!'

He grabbed my shoulders, his hand accidentally touched the skin below the wound, and I felt the stinging and burning get worse, but I ignored it.

'Cammie listen to me!'

I looked at his light eyes and calmed down, 'What?' I asked as I sighed.

'The wound has had no direct contact with lurkers right?' he asked.

'No… I don't think so.' I answered. 'But like you said: this,' I pointed at my right arm, 'is a big open wound.'

'An indirect infection spreads much slower then if you would've been bit. If we find a way to clean it before the infection spreads, there is a chance we can safe you.'

'How would you know I'm not already infected?' I asked.

'Before my friends,' he hesitated, 'moved on, we helped a little girl with a bite on her arm, she claimed it was a dog bite.'

'Dog bite?' I asked, 'I think dogs are pretty much extinct nowadays…'

'That's what everyone thought,' he continued, 'but she cleaned it, stitched it up, and never turned. So I guess it takes a while before the virus is actually in your bloodstream.'

That girl must've been Clementine…'How big was her wound?' I asked.

'Bit bigger then yours.' He answered.

'Bigger?' I asked as I gave him a surprised look.

'Yeah, but yours is deeper.'

It was quiet for a while.

'We just gotta find a way to clean it…' Nick mumbled.

'Well there's plenty of water underneath that bridge.' I tried.

'That water is just as infected as the blood running through the lurker veins.' He said while chewing his nails.

'Yeah of course…' I mumbled, 'That makes sense…' I felt light in my head. I could only guess this had to be what it felt like to be drunk. None of my ideas made any sense and I felt stupid.

Nick's eyes widened, 'There's a ski lodge up the mountain!' he said as he got up and started pacing through the room. 'There's gotta be some sort of first aid kit there somewhere!'

'Or not…' I mumbled as I tried to ignore the fact I was starting to lose the feeling in my right arm.

Nick ignored me, 'but will you make it up the mountain?' he asked.

'Well that lodge is our only chance I guess, apart from that there's only forest here. But if you're sure you want to check that place maybe I should wait here?' I asked. 'I would only slow you down otherwise, I'm pretty much useless right now.' I knew that was true, and it annoyed me I was so dependent on him, more then I was willing to admit.

_Hi! I'm Cammie the burden. I get people killed!_

'No way.' He said in a determent tone. I could already sense I wouldn't win this argument. 'I'm not gonna lose you again.' He said as he walked towards the window to check if the coast was clear.

I blushed.

'C'mon.' he said as he walked towards me. 'We're burning daylight.'

I smiled as I tried to move, bad idea.

'Can you walk?' he asked as he helped me get up.

Of course I could, but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt like hell. I nodded and limped towards the door with his supporting arm around my waist. The dizziness got worse every step, and it was as if someone ht my head with a hammer every heart beat. But I was going to make it. I had to, because I now had something to fight for again. Or rather, someone.

* * *

'Aagh!' I screamed as I almost fell, Nick caught me before I could though.

'It's okay, I got ya.' He said as he helped me up. He blushed when he realized how closely he held me in his arms. Nick had just let me go, hoping we would speed up like that, but walking got more and more difficult, and I had the feeling I didn't have full control of my own muscles anymore. I looked back and saw the vast river was no more than a cute puddle now.

'Ya know what?' he said as he bend over, 'I think we'll be faster this way.' He picked me up and started carrying me.

'N-no!' I yelped, my voice sounded raspy. I tried to free myself from his strong arms, but he wouldn't let me go.

'Please don't make this harder then it has to be.' He groaned.

'Nick, I can walk!' I said but I stopped struggling.

'Of course you can…' he soothed me. He really made me feel like a five-year-old toddler he was trying to calm down, and it annoyed me.

'Fine.' I gave up. 'But as soon as I attempt to bite you in your neck, you drop me and get the hell away from me. Got it?'

'Sure.' He said, seemingly pleased with this agreement, even though it had to be tiring carrying someone up a mountain. I felt guilty. I had been looking for him the past few days to help, but I really was a burden now.

'What happened to your rifle by the way?' I asked as I now noticed he wasn't carrying it anymore.

'I lost it.' He said. It was so calming when I pressed my ear against his chest and he spoke with that low voice. I closed my eyes, listened to his hart beat and focused on the rhythm of his steps.

In my head I sang the song my mother always sang to me when I was younger.

_Love is so risky,_

_I don't know where to start,_

_But the moment I met you,_

_You protected my heart._

_I need you by my side,_

_I can no longer hide,_

_It is a feeling I once was affraid of_

_But _

_You… taught… me… to… love_

* * *

**_Leave a review and tell me if you like it so far_**

**_Love you guys!_**


	10. I Need You

**I Need You**

'Cammie,' Nick suddenly stood next to me, I had a monster headache and hadn't even heard him approach me. If he were a lurker I would've been deader than I could be by tomorrow…

'Nick you startled me…' I mumbled as I tried getting up from the rocks I sat on, but quickly sat down again when I felt like throwing up.

'I found a stream, let's go there, drink, and then we'll move on its almost dusk.' Nick looked down at me and smiled.

'What's funny?' I asked as I slowly tried standing once more.

'Nothing.' He answered as he helped me get up. He wanted to pick me up again, but I pushed him away.

'I'm fine Nick I'll walk.' He looked like he wanted to protest but I didn't stand around to wait for it. I'd never thought Nick could be such a caring person.

When I arrived at the stream I smiled as I saw the water sparkling in the orange evening light. I kneeled down, cupped my hands, I drank the cold refreshing water greedily and splattered the rest of it in my face.

'Better.' I sighed.

I looked at my own reflection in the water. A pale girl with anxious eyes looked back at me. Nick's face appeared next to my reflection. Compared to him my face was almost white. I couldn't help but stare at his silver eyes, his black hair, and his cute smile…

I shook my head as I got up and staggered but kept standing. Focus Cammie…

'We don't have much time.' I said as I started walking up the mountain again, I didn't wait for Nick to finish drinking he would catch up to me in a second anyway.

The ski lodge was close now, just about 15 more minutes and we'd be there, but I was starting to wonder if I'd last that long. The feeling in my right arm had almost completely disappeared.

Noises beyond the bushes made my heart skip a beat. I held in my breath, but nothing followed.

Curious as I was, but shouldn't have been I pushed a bush out of the way, and immediately covered my nose when I smelled the horrible stench of decay.

A small lurker was tied to a tree, it used to be a little girl, barely older than 5. Her teddy bear lay next to her in the grass. When it saw me the lurker raised it's tiny head and reached out to me with her boney fingers.

'Cammie?' Nick's voice made the lurker gargle louder. 'Oh my God…' he whispered when he saw the scene.

'Your God doesn't exist anymore.' I mumbled. 'If he did, sick shit like this wouldn't happen.'

'Do you think her parents did this?' he asked, 'when she was bit?'

'I hope they did this because she was bit.' I answered, 'but I don't see any bite marks. It looks like she died out of starvation.'

'So she was just… left here?'

I couldn't look anymore, and moved away. Why did things like this happen? What had we done to deserve this?

Nick caught up with me in two steps, but didn't speak. There was a heavy silence between us.

'Just make sure you keep it bleeding.' Nick suddenly said changing the subject. On my right I saw a ski lift, how easy would it be to be carried up that way…

'Keep it bleeding?' I asked. 'How do you suggest I do that, and why?'

'As long as it bleeds your blood keeps the infection out.' He answered.

'I don't think I can afford to lose any more blood…' I mumbled.

He frowned. 'Please hold on a little longer, we're almost there.' He looked at me. I tried to smile, but his frown wouldn't disappear. He looked worried, and it startled me.

The lodge got closer and closer, almost there… the closer we got, the worse the headache got, and the dizzier I felt.

'Nick…I…' I didn't have the strength to finish my sentence. His safe arms were around me immediately.

I was weak. I couldn't even walk. What was I thinking? I wouldn't survive. I was infected. By tomorrow the only thing I would be able to think was food. The only thing reaching me would be sound, because sound meant food, and I would be drawn to the last survivors left like one of those mindless monsters.

'Its fine…' I mumbled. 'We're almost there right? I'll walk the last bit.'

'You sure?' Nick asked, he sounded even more worried than he looked.

'Sure.' I answered.

Take it easy, step-by-step. The ground started to undulate underneath my feet, was I hallucinating?

Just a little further…

When we finally stood in front of the ski lodge I felt like collapsing in the grass, and not waking up ever again.

Next to me Nick gasped for air. I turned my head his way.

'What happened here?' he asked no one in particular in disbelieve.

I looked at the same area he was pointing at, and my eyes widened. There were dead lurker corpses everywhere, I could see the ones closer to us were all sot to pieces.

'At least we know it'll be safe here…' Nick mumbled.

'Or not.' I whispered because it was all the sound I could force my voice to make. I started coughing, and it wouldn't stop.

The doors of the ski lodge were wide open, and I walked, or rather limped in.

I took a look around. Inside it wasn't much better than outside, I could see one, two, no, three dead corpses on the ground.

The most disturbing part of it, was that they hadn't been lurkers, whoever shot them had killed living people.

I walked over to the body of a big brown man. He had a bullet hole in his head. Poor guy.

I heard Nick walk in, and he stopped next to me.

'No…' he whispered 'No!' his voice cracked and he bent over. 'Oh my God Alvin!' he got up and examined the corpse of a bold man wearing a red sweater. He probably didn't recognize him, because he immediately ran over to the last body closer to the window. The window was broken, so I could only guess whoever had done this must've shot them from outside.

'Oh no…' he mumbled. 'This is… this is Johnny… that means…' his voice cracked again and he didn't finish his sentence.

Johnny… the name sounded strangely familiar… I'd heard it not to long ago but I couldn't remember to whom it belonged.

Nick dropped on the floor and buried his face in his hands. 'I won't find them anymore. They're gone.'

His voice sounded empty, just as the first time we met. Not good.

'Nick?' I asked, no response. 'Nick please…' I tried. He was losing it, he knew these people on the floor, and he couldn't deal with death.

'Nick!' I yelped. He wouldn't move. My words weren't even reaching him.

Everything was blurry, and the room was spinning around me. The loss of feeling in my right arm was starting to spread towards my shoulder. It was just because of the blood loss… the infection wasn't in my bloodstream yet. It couldn't be. I couldn't be turning, not now! Not when Nick was in this state, if I would, I'd kill him.

Every muscle in my body hurt more than it had in the last couple of days, and yet I couldn't even fully control them anymore. I needed to find that first aid kit. It had to be somewhere it had to! Otherwise…

My tired eyes looked around the room hastily, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of the red box with the white cross. I saw a counter, maybe there somewhere… I stumbled towards the counter and realized it had ones been some kind of mini kitchen.

Behind the counter I noticed a door, probably leading to a bigger kitchen. There had to be a first aid kit in there somewhere. Holding on to the counter I made my way towards it. When I had to let go of the counter to open the door I fell. I fell on my wounded arm, and it hurt.

But the pain was good! I hadn't felt anything in this arm the entire day, and pain meant it hadn't completely died yet. I tried to get up, but didn't have the strength. My every attempt to get hold of the counter again failed. I couldn't give up, not now. If I'd faint now I wouldn't wake up anymore, actually, I would, but it would be as a lurker.

Pushing my body to its limits I pulled myself up and made my way into the white kitchen. It was so white everywhere… but in this sea of whiteness, my eyes caught a red smudge, the first aid kit! Luckily it was close to me. I grabbed it, but my shaking hands couldn't get the fucking box open…

Suddenly something came back to me, Johnny… he had been one of Carver's men, the guy who had to have my dagger! If he still had it, I could open the damn kit with it!

Somehow my find of the kit encouraged my tired body to use up the last bit of strength it had. Slowly I managed to get closer to Johnny's corpse.

While I made my way towards him I apologized to God for denying his existence, and begged him to do me this one, last favor of giving me my dagger back.

When I finally got to Johnny, I fell on my knees and feverishly began searching his waist. His body lay in a puddle of blood, but I ignored it.

At last my hand got hold of the dagger's hilt and I triumphantly pulled it out. I opened the kit using my dagger as a crowbar, and finally it popped open and I turned it upside down.

Tears of relieve ran down my face. The kit contained everything I needed; alcohol to clean the wound with, sterile needles and bandages, I couldn't believe it!

But I couldn't do this myself, I couldn't even look at the wound, let alone effectively clean it and stich it up.

Nick still sat there on the floor with hollow eyes. I crawled towards him.

'Nick, please…' I sobbed, 'I need your help, I can't do this alone!'

Black smudges started blinding my vision from the corner of my eyes, I needed him to snap out of it now!

I wanted to grab his shoulders, shake him awake, or hit him. Anything it would take to get him to wake up.

So I did the last thing I could come up with, I grabbed his shirt with my shaking red hands, pulled him towards me and pressed my lips against his. I heard him make a surprised noise, but he didn't push me away, he wrapped his arms around me, and passionately kissed me back.

I closed my eyes and let the darkness overwhelm me. Would this be the end?

* * *

**Tell me if you liked it, and if not, what I can improve ;)**

**Love you guys**


	11. No Worries

**No Worries**

Everything around me was soft, as if I slept on a cloud. I could hear rain pouring down on the roof above my head, the wind howled. My eyelids quivered. When I finally opened them, the bright room hurt, and I immediately closed them again.

'Morning' I heard next to my head. The familiar voice caused my eyes to open again and I felt more awake than ever.

'Nick...where… are we?' I asked confused as I tried sitting up. Every muscle in my body hurt, and I lay down on my back again. Slowly everything came back to me. 'Are we in heaven?' I asked sleepy. My eyes widened, 'Did I eat you?!'

Nick laughed. 'In a way…' he gave me a knowing look and grinned.

I frowned. My memories were vague, we arrived at the ski lodge, my arm needed to get cleaned but Nick recognized the dead people on the floor. I needed his help but he wouldn't answer me, so I…

My face got as red as the fireplace behind Nick.

Quickly trying to change the subject, I sat up, and reached for the cut on my right arm with my left hand. When I carefully rolled up my sleeve I briefly touched it, it had been stitched and bandaged!

'You fixed my arm?' I asked surprised.

'Yeah, it wasn't too hard, you found all the stuff and when you fainted it was easy enough without you struggling.'

'It must've been scary knowing I could turn any moment.' I mumbled.

'You're worth it.' He answered.

I didn't like the flirty undertone of the conversation, it somehow it scared me. I tried going on about something else. 'So you've never done this before?' I asked pointing at the stitches.

'Well I helped my uncle stich up my dog, that was quite a struggle, and I've paid attention when Carlos stitched up Clementine's arm…'

'Carlos?' I asked happy to have something to talk about, partially because it made me forget the pain on my arm, but also because the flirting made me feel really uncomfortable.

'He's one of the people I was with before…' he mumbled as he looked away pained.

Ouch, it wasn't a good idea to remind him of that. At the same time I also felt an ice cube glide down my spine, I'd sort of forgotten, because of the whole Carver thing, but I'd seen Nick's friends, now that I didn't have to worry about my arm anymore I could continue carrying that burden. I had to tell him…

'Nick…' I began.

'Hm?'

I looked him in the eyes, but just as I wanted to tell him the truth, I couldn't.

'H-have you been waiting for me to wake up all this time?' I quickly added.

He smiled, 'Not all the time, I eh…' his face darkened, 'also carried the bodies outside…'

'I'm…so sorry.' I mumbled.

'One of these dead people was one of Carver's men.' he explained, presuming I didn't know this yet, 'another one was Alvin, a friend of mine.'

'I'm so sorry Nick…' I mumbled once more as I looked at my lap.

The sheets of the bed I lay in were dirty because of the bloodstains on my arm and clothes.

'Can we go look for a stream or something?' I asked. 'I could really go for a bath…'

Nick's face lit up. 'Believe it or not, but this place actually has running water and electricity!'

I frowned. 'Electricity? How is that even possible?'

'There's a wind turbine out there, and it provides this place with enough energy to heat the water, cook or turn the lights on.'

'That's… amazing…' I mumbled with a surprised smile on my face. How long had it been since I'd last taken a shower, or turned lights on…

'The shower is over there, and I found you some clean clothes, you might wanna wear these since it'll get a lot colder. I'll go… look for some food or something…' he mumbled, as he got up from the chair he sat in and moved towards the door.

I looked over to a pile of clothes next to the bed. A light pink sweater and big brown boots, both with fur lining, brown pants, they looked fine. Everything seemed my size and warm, but then I saw a huge pink whale sized bra on the pile, and I laughed.

Nick followed my gaze and blushed as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. 'I…eh… I dunno if you need it but eh…'

'No no.' I laughed as I looked up at him. 'I do, thanks, but what size do you think I have?' Nick got even more red and looked down at the floor. 'I dunno… I'm no expert at this, but from what I saw…'

I raised an eyebrow,

'I mean of course I didn't see! Well not on purpose or anything…But ya know… I mean eh…' he sighed, '…that came out wrong.'

I laughed even louder, it kind of hurt my chest, but I hadn't had such a good laugh for days, maybe even longer. The only reason to laugh nowadays would be because of a lurker doing something stupid, and thereby messing up his chance on getting you. Apart from that most of the funny things out there had disappeared when the plague spread.

'Don't worry about it I'll find something myself.'

Slowly I tried standing and I carefully slid from the bed. When my feet touched the ground, I really felt like a baby being taught how to walk, with Nick next to me, his arms ready just in case I'd fall.

'I got it.' I reassured him. 'Don't worry about it. The shower was in there right?' I asked as I pointed towards the white door on the other side of the small room.

He nodded, and his face got serious again as the red color faded out. 'Can you manage?' he asked as he approached me to help me get up.

My body still hurt, but I could walk again, and I knew a shower would definitely help. Even if I wouldn't manage, I didn't need Nick in the same room with me when I took a shower.

'I'll manage.' I answered. 'Thanks for the concern though.'

He didn't move away, but hesitated as if he wanted to say something else. Insecurely he leaned foreword, closer and closer to my face… when I realized what he was planning I started to panic, and quickly moved towards the door, pretending I hadn't realized he'd just tried to kiss me.

He rubbed the back of his head again and looked away.

'I'll be fine.' I told him as I opened the door of the bathroom.

He nodded and without saying anything he left the room, leaving me, and my confused mind behind.

I staggered just a bit as I walked into the bathroom. I closed the door behind me, locked it and started taking off my clothes. There was a big mirror in the bathroom, in which I could see my entire body. I hadn't had a good look at myself since way before, back when my appearance still mattered to me. I was even skinnier than I thought. My entire body looked tired, there were purple bags underneath my light brown eyes, but the spark glowing in them made me look more awake and alert than I actually was.

The bandaged wounded arm looked clean compared to the rest of my body. Blood was all over me, in my hair, on my face.

I walked over to the sink and washed my hands.

Slowly and carefully I took the bandage of the wound and examined the stiches. They'd been done roughly, but they'd stopped the bleeding. When I opened the medicine cabinet I found some more supplies, including some more bandages and a small bottle of alcohol.

With a smile on my face I turned on the shower. The rusty showerhead made a weird noise, and I started to worry, but at last ice-cold water flowed down the sink.

I didn't care about whether it was warm or cold. It felt amazing and incredibly refreshing to have a shower after surviving in the forest all these days.

Blood, and mud contaminated the water flowing down the shower drain. I found some cheap hotel soap in the shower and cleaned myself with it. For the first time in years I smelled like roses again.

I couldn't believe this luxury, or the fact I used to have constant access to it in the past. How unaware and unthankful I'd been for these small things like this, it was almost embarrassing how I needed an apocalypse to learn how to appreciate what I had…

'Now the fun part…' I mumbled, as I took the bottle of alcohol and carefully rubbed a napkin with the fluid around the edges of the wound. Tears started welling up in my eyes and I clenched my jaw. Wow that hurt!

'Bad…Fucking…Idea.' I groaned as I put the bottle back in the medicine drawer.

When I entered the room again I got a white dressing gown from the closet in the small room.

The rain fell from the sky. The lurkers also got to shower today.

I opened the balcony doors and smelled the fresh scent of the rain. I closed my eyes and listened to the beautiful sound of the leaves, waving in the howling wind… it was almost funny how happy a shower and clean clothes made me.

I walked in the room, but left the balcony doors open, and started looking through a pile of clothes in the back of the closet. I finally found a bra about my size.

The fact I was so lucky with everything today worried me, because that meant it could only get worse from here.

As I got up, I dropped the dressing gown on the floor, and put on my underwear.

When I turned around to take the clothes from the pile, I saw the door was half open, and in it's opening stood a red headed Nick.

For a second I just stood there, paralyzed, but then I realized I wasn't wearing anything apart from my underwear. I could feel my head turning red and without thinking about it I grabbed a pillow from my bed and hurled it at Nick's face.

'Don't you know how to knock?' I asked angrily as I took the second pillow from the bed and threw it at him again.

'I'm sorry!' he said smothered when the next pillow hit his head. He turned around and closed the door behind him. 'I- I didn't see anything I swear…'

I knew he was lying, but things were already awkward as they were.

I put on the comfortable clothes and made my way downstairs. The room was quite cozy with the lights on. Of course, the fact there weren't bodies and blood anymore also improved the atmosphere.

I found Nick, siting on a big red couch next to a big fireplace. Behind him was a huge Christmas tree with an angel at its top.

We always had a silver bird on top of our tree, my mother would tell me it guarded, and watched over our family, it kept us from harm, kept us safe. How ironic the silver bird broke the last Christmas before the apocalypse…

Nick lifted his eyes from the fireplace when I sat down next to him.

'Listen I'm really sorry about-'

'Don't worry about it.' I interrupted him.

It was quiet for a moment, until Nick got up, walked towards the kitchen and came back with an opened can.

'Here' he said as he gave me a can of beans.

I ate greedily and I felt full when I got up and threw the empty can of beans in the bin. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to be full.

I sat down next to Nick again and realized he had also taken a shower. He also whore different clothes, a grey sweater that matched his eyes, black jeans, his boots and of course his cap.

I felt strange, but I noticed this feeling had to be happiness, I felt so satisfied sitting next to him while the fire crackled, and the rain poured out of the sky outside.

I knew we really weren't actually that safe at all, the lodge with its light was like a will-o'-the-wisp in the dark night, and we had no weapons, apart from a dagger, and a rifle we found close to the front doors. Both of the weapons were out of reach right now though, and if we were ambushed by strangers things wouldn't be pretty.

But right that moment I didn't want to think about it and I let the worries go.

Without me realizing it, I got a little closer to Nick, just because it felt better to be near him. The more time I spent with him, the closer I wanted to be to him. That couldn't be a good sign.

But just as I wanted to create some distance between us, he stretched out his arm, and by doing that, puled me closer towards him.

I gave up and rested my head on his shoulder. It felt weird, but at the same time relaxing to be so close to him. I closed my eyes and drifted of, I could almost feel him hesitate, but he gently pressed his cool lips against my forehead.

I wanted to free myself from his embrace, create distance. Love was dangerous. I couldn't fall in love with him. I wanted to push him away, make clear I didn't want to get hurt, or worse, hurt him…

But I just didn't have the strength tonight, and even though my head knew love wasn't an option, my heart wouldn't give in.

* * *

**Hey guys, **

**Sorry, this chapter was a bit uneventful compared to the previous ones, I felt like Cammie deserved some peace. More troubles in the next chapter ;)**

**Hope you enjoyed, tell me what to improve!**

**Love you guys :) **


	12. An Old Friend

**An Old Fiend**

I slowly made my way downstairs, testing my new boots. I had to know whether I could still quietly sneak up on people, or lurkers…

The boots didn't squeak as I walked, that was a good start.

I saw Nick standing at the counter. His back faced my way. He clearly wasn't paying any attention to me. Perfect.

An evil smile appeared on my face as I hid behind the side of the counter.

_Three…_

…_Two…_

…_One!_

Without any warning I jumped up from behind the counter, on Nick's back. He screamed out of surprise, which caused me to laugh and lose all the strength in my muscles. But he was much stronger than me anyway, whether I laughed or not.

After some struggling he managed to fight me down. He picked me up, carried me to towards the couch and dropped me there.

'What was that for?' he asked out of breath. 'Almost got me a heart attack!' he said as he reached for his heart.

I laughed as I pointed at my boots, 'They work!'

He raised one eyebrow 'The fuck they do…'

I walked towards the kitchen to get some food as I hummed a song.

'You are happy.' Nick pointed out as he sat down on the couch. 'I've never heard you sing before.'

'That's because I don't.' I repeated as I searched through the counter's drawers. 'I hum.' I added, 'That's different.'

'I bet you could sing if you tried.' He said flirty. Crap there was that flirty tone again. He tended to do that often lately. It scared me.

'Could be, but I don't want to.' I answered.

'I'll get you singing one day.' He decided.

'Good luck with that.' I laughed. I found a can of peaches in one of the counter's drawers, got my dagger out of its hilt, and used it to open the can with. When I finished I put it down on the counter and walked towards Nick.

I looked over at the fireplace as I sat down next to him, eating from the can. The fire was lit, but it smoldered faintly not providing much heat. 'I'll go find some more wood to get it burning.' I said as I left the can on the couch, got up and walked towards the door.

Nick got up. 'Hang on a sec, I'll come with you.'

'Nah,' I said quickly as I kept walking, 'don't worry about it, I'll be back before ya know it.'

'I think it's safer I we-'

'I'll be fine Nick.' I interrupted him.

He didn't seem too happy about it but nodded. 'Make sure the wood is dry though, otherwise it'll only smoke.'

'Sure.' I said, and with that I closed the glass doors behind me. I didn't really want to leave him, but I didn't trust myself around him. I couldn't get to dependent on him.

* * *

I walked along the forest path for a while, occasionally picking up some dead branches along the way. I just decided I had enough, and I wanted to make my way back to the lodge, but froze when I heard moaning close by.

I immediately dropped the wood, and reached for my dagger, but couldn't find it.

…I left it at the lodge…. I face palmed myself, how could I be so fucking stupid?

I climbed the nearest tree to hide from the upcoming lurker, but noticed it wasn't alone. It was stalking another victim.

A woman with brown hair, wearing a light brownish jacket came running through the woods. She limped, as if she strained her ankle or something… limping almost the exact same way behind her was a lurker. It flailed its arms and almost caught up with the woman.

'Help!' she screamed. 'Someone, please help!' the lurker jumped towards her, which caused her to fall over. There they lay, in the grass. The lurker tried to bite her in her face, the blood on its face dripped on hers and she kept screaming while trying to push the heavy body of her.

I had a strange déjà vu feeling and sighed. I was seriously going to get myself killed with all these good intentions one day…

I jumped out of the tree and looked around. Without my dagger, I was going to have to improvise, and that was hard when you couldn't think because of a woman screaming next to your ear…

Apart from the pile of branches I'd dropped on the ground there wasn't much to use as a weapon, and I highly doubted the dry dead branches would be strong enough to penetrate a lurker head.

The woman couldn't see me, and kept screaming for help, she was going to draw others… I had to hurry.

Just then I noticed a big rock from the corner of my eyes.

Bingo.

It looked really heavy, but it was all I had. I picked up the heavy rock, ignoring the pain in my right arm, carried it over to the woman struggling with the living corpse, and hurled it at the lurker's head.

The woman made a pained sound when the destroyed lurker head landed on her breast, but she lived.

I pushed the heavy body of her, while she picked up the rock with both her hands and threw it next to her on the bloody ground.

I held out my hand, she took it and I helped her up.

'That was close.' I said with a smile. 'Are you okay?'

'Th…thank you…' the woman stammered as she bended over to catch her breath.

'Don't worry a-' I didn't finish my sentence when I heard voices coming from deeper into the woods.

I looked at the woman, but she didn't appear to be alarmed by them.

'Christa, where the fuck are you?!' a familiar voice shouted.

My eyes widened in horror. I knew that voice, I knew it too well. That same voice had spoken the words that almost led to my death months ago, that same voice had haunted me in my nightmares for months after I left my group. My group hadn't been happy when I left them, especially not my old buddy Fred. He and a few others were making their way towards us, and if they saw me I was done for.

Without saying anything to the Christa –woman, I ran back towards the lodge, pushing the bushes aside as I ran.

_They couldn't see me, he couldn't see me!_

I remembered it too well. That evening when I left my group, I'd heard his plan, they were discussing who it would be, and then he spoke those words that made me lose faith in humanity. Thinking about it, it was as if he whispered them in my ear right that moment…

_How about Cammie?_

He had been planning on killing me, because I was a burden. That would be the official motive. I'd been an emotional wreck at the time, because my mother had died. Everyone was hungry, and we were in a big group. Sacrificing one, in order to feed many was the only solution according to that sick cannibal. No one would realize if something accidentally happened to me. Thinking about again made me feel sick. When Fred discussed it with others, they thought he was joking, but I knew how serious he'd been.

In the apocalyptic world, everyone slowly got crazy. You couldn't trust anyone, not even yourself. When you did, they lost their minds. Some before, and some after you did. And who could blame them? Just like Nick said, we live in a fucking nightmare. People didn't care about anyone but themselves. It only takes the dead rising to turn a perfect community of living beings into a hell where everyone kills each other.

People like Fred were the worst kind. Eating living people in order to survive, that was sick, and it made them no better than the lurkers out there. But what made Fred especially scary was how it seemed like a game to him. If he decided who his pray was, he wouldn't let it go easily, and I'd made him into an enemy after refusing to kiss him that one night… I knew why Fred had it out for me. I knew why he really wanted to kill me, and that was because he couldn't stand rejection.

I could never forget that night, even though I'd ousted the memory, I knew I would never forget it. That look in his eyes, the way he laughed… I had been afraid of meeting him again since the day I left him, I'd been afraid of running into him every moment of the day, but it never happened, and when it didn't, I just started assuming he died at some point. I hoped he had, but of course not. Fred wouldn't die, and now he was here, and if he saw me I was as good as dead. If only I hadn't made that stupid mistake that one night…

* * *

_A hand poking me caused me to slowly open my eyes._

'_Cammie, it's your turn.'_

'_With who…?' I mumbled as I slowly pushed myself up._

'_Ehm, Fred.'_

_Great, lookout with that snake… _

_I looked around. The entire camp was asleep. We were with so many, at least 50 people. That was safer, but it also meant at least 50 mouths to feed. Many of us had fallen up north though, people like my mother…_

_I got up and located Fred. He was sitting close to the campfire burning some twigs._

_As soon as I stepped away from my sleeping bag, the previous lookout stepped in it and fell asleep. In our group no one had any personal belongings, we shared everything, also weapons. We all got to keep one weapon to ourselves, but we had to share the rest. I didn't really mind, my dagger was enough for me anyway._

'_Hey there beautiful.' Fred said as I sat down next to him on a fallen tree trunk._

_I shivered, but not because of the cold. The light of the torches made the shadows move causing every one of them to look like a possible threat._

'_Are you cold?' he asked as he took off his yellow jacket and hung it around my shoulders. I shook it of, _

'_No I'm fine thank you.' I said as I shove away from him._

_Ever since I'd joined this huge group, the guy had been flirting with me, it disgusted me, but I knew how dangerous he was, I didn't want to upset him. He'd killed people before, making it seem like accidents. No one knew, but I did. I knew this guy too well. I didn't want to be his next victim._

'_Look at the stars, aren't they gorgeous?' he asked._

'_Hm.' I said, not really wanting to respond._

_He grabbed my hand, how subtle…_

_I tried pulling it back, but his sweaty hand wouldn't let me go._

'_Listen, we are the lookouts, we need to pay attention to the forest.' I said still trying to free my hand from his. 'Not to each other.' I added._

'_No one will know…' he said as he leaned closer._

_Oh fuck_

'_Listen Fred I really can't-' he got even closer and I placed both my hands on his chest to push him away. _

'_Don't be so boring.' He said, 'you know you want this…'_

'_I, don't!' I said, just a bit too loud._

'_Sh sh, it's okay…' he said as he placed his finger on my lips. _

_I got up and started walking away from him, but he caught up with me and grabbed my wrist._

'_Don't be so difficult Cammie…' he began, but I wouldn't let him finish, I was sick of the flirting._

'_How clear do I have to be?!' I asked in a raised voice. 'I'm not in love with you, I don't even fucking like you, leave me the fuck alone!' _

'_Make me.' He said with a grin as he pulled my face closer towards him. _

_Fine_

_I hit him in his face as hard as I could. He staggered to maintain his balance and carefully shifted his jaw from left to right._

'_You shouldn't have fucking done that…' he said ominous as he ran towards me. I ran away from him. I heard him behind me, the leaves crackled underneath his feet._

_I couldn't even think clearly, everyone was asleep, no one would notice if something 'accidentally' happened to me. I ran deeper and deeper into the woods until the torches we lit to secure our camp were no more than wisps in the darkness. If only it was day, Fred wouldn't hurt me if everyone saw him, that would get him kicked out of the group. _

_Everyone was asleep… that's it!_

_I ran back towards camp, and dodged a lurker limping towards me from the darkness._

_When I entered the circle of torches I walked over to the first person I saw, curled up in his sleeping bag and kicked him awake. _

'_Ouch! What the fuck was that for?!' a tired voice whispered. _

'_Sorry…' I whispered back. 'I-its your turn.'_

_A man I didn't even recognize got up and limped towards the campfire, rubbing the painful place on his thigh where I'd kicked him. _

_I lay down in his still warm sleeping bag and closed my eyes. Fred had given up the hunt. _

_I heard him sit down next to the man and they started talking. _

'_Man I'm so hungry…' he said as I heard him throw tings at the campfire._

'_Yeah…' the man responded. _

'_What would it taste like?' he asked with that terrifying dreamy voice._

'_What?'_

'_Human.' He responded, his voice sounded colder than the night itself_

'_I hope you're joking…'_

'_Sometimes the hunger really makes me wonder.' _

'_I don't even wanna know.'_

_Fred continued, 'I mean, it must be pretty good, if all the walkers want it.' he laughed quietly. 'But who to eat…?'_

_The man thought he was kidding, and played along. 'I dunno, Jared is old, he doesn't have much time left anyway.' He laughed, 'But the meat would be dry.'_

'_Yeah… maybe Lilly?' Fred asked._

'_Nah, she's pretty much the group leader, people would notice.'_

_I could feel Fred's cold gaze shift over to where I lay, 'How about Cammie?'_

* * *

I finally got to the lodge, and ran in without hesitation.

'We need to go!' I screamed to Nick who was still sitting on the big red couch.

He got up. 'What's wrong?' he asked as he ran towards me.

I paced through the room trying to get a clear head. 'Listen Nick, I don't have time to explain it now but we really NEED to go!'

'But-'

'Please Nick, PLEASE trust me.' I pleaded as I ran towards the bench where we left our weapons. Now that I saw them lying there like that in the open I couldn't believe how lucky we'd been no one else discovered this lodge. They could've easily crept in, taken our weapons and killed us…

I grabbed my unloaded pistol and dagger. 'Grab all the food you can carry, and take your rifle!' I shouted as I looked at the edge of the woods, hoping I wouldn't see the silhouettes of my nightmare looming from the darkness.

I knew I might be exaggerating, he could've changed, but I doubted it. Fred had always been an assertive person. I'd learned that from all the time I spent with him in the past. When he had something in his mind he wouldn't stop, until he got what he wanted. If he truly hated me, and I was almost certain he did, he wouldn't show any mercy, but kill me on sight with a smile on his face. I didn't want to take the risk. I turned around and saw Nick, putting some cans in a bag.

'You ready?' I asked.

He nodded. 'Let me just grab my rif-' he got interrupted by the two glass doors being pushed open loudly. My heart skipped a beat.

I made a gesture with my hand indicating he had to follow me, and we snuck upstairs together.

'Ho-ly shit, take a look at this place!' a loud voice shouted as he made his way into the lodge. Yup, that was Fred, no doubt.

* * *

**Hey guys,**

**Sorry, this chapter might have been a bit boring with the long flashback, but I noticed even though I planned on writing about him, I never really introduced Fred as a character, so I felt like I had to write some background info on him.**

**Hope you enjoy it so far, tell me if you like it, and what I can improve!**

**Your reviews really make my day!**

**love you guys! :) **


	13. Fulfilling a debt

**Fulfilling a debt**

'Is it safe?' a man's voice I didn't recognize asked.

'No idea.' Fred answered. I could hear him as he walked around through the lodge.

The sound of his footsteps was nerve wrecking, but I couldn't see him because of a big wooden pillar in the way.

'Look at that.' Fred said as he made his way towards the fireplace, I ducked so that he wouldn't see my head. 'The fire's still lit.' He shouted at one of his people across the room, 'there's gotta be people here!'

My anxious eyes met Nick's, he frowned and looked away as if listening to whether Fred was close or not.

Even though he wasn't the brightest of people, Fred wasn't stupid either.

'Hey,' the other man's voice called out, 'you take a look upstairs.' He shouted at someone.

I closed my eye and squeezed Nick's hand when I heard someone approach the stairs.

The steps creaked under his weight, but when he got upstairs, I noticed he wasn't a he at all.

When she noticed us, Chirsta's eyes widened, but she didn't speak. She slowly opened her mouth as if considering calling the others, which she probably was.

I shook my head, _please _I mouthed silently as I looked at her with pleading eyes.

If she spoke up now, my life could be over…

'Well?' I heard from downstairs, 'found anyone?'

I closed my eyes again, ready to hear her betray us.

It was quiet for a second. The silence was unbearable. 'No.' the woman said.

My eyes shot open again and looked at her, but she turned around and walked down the stairs.

I got up carefully and my eyes met Christa's, she looked around, and made a small hand gesture to tell me it was safe.

'C'mon.' I whispered, and Nick nodded. We carefully made our way downstairs. The stairs creaked, but the two other men and Fred were in the kitchen, so they probably hadn't heard it.

I couldn't see Christa anywhere, so I assumed she was either trying to distract her group so that we could sneak out, or wandered around somewhere else, so that she could deny ever seeing us just in case we got caught.

Either way, we had to get out of here as fast as we could.

I tiptoed towards the door.

Nick's heavy footsteps were a lot louder than mine, but luckily we remained unnoticed. How ironic I'd done the same thing this morning to practice…

Suddenly I remembered my dagger, it was still on that counter! I considered just leaving it, but then changed my mind as I remembered how helpless I'd felt when I had to get that lurker off Christa, the next time, it could be me underneath that lurker corpse, and I might not be as lucky with the rock supplies…

I quietly made my way to the counter and heard Fred's voice coming from the kitchen.

'What are you doing?' Nick whispered quietly.

My own heartbeat sounded as loud as gunfire in my ears. I just hoped no one else noticed.

When I got to the counter, the dagger wasn't there anymore. I knew exactly where I'd left it, but it wasn't there anymore.

Footsteps got louder, and the door to the kitchen was pushed open half, the kitchen light seeped through the creek.

'W-Wait!' I heard from inside, Christa caused the door to close again.

'What?' Fred's voice asked annoyed.

No time to lose, I ran towards the doors, away from the counter and accepted the fact my dagger and I had to part ways… again.

Nick held one of the doors open for me and I could feel the refreshing cold air blow in my face, but just as I wanted to walk out, a voice behind me caused me to flinch.

'Cammie.' Fred said my name as if he wasn't surprised to see me at all. It frightened me.

'Fred.' I said, and I hoped it sounded calmer than I felt, as I looked at him. He hadn't changed a bit; he only seemed somewhat skinnier. His red hair flamed like the fire on the other side of the room, and he looked at me with his small blue eyes.

His eyes were a lot different from Nick's; his were dead, just as lifeless as a pair of lurker eyes.

'How…' he hesitated, '…special to see you again, you shouldn't have made us worry so much my love, you shouldn't.' he said as he approached me.

His voiced caused goosebumps to run up and down my arms and I shivered.

'I really thought you were dead…' he said, as he kept getting closer, 'until I found this.' He showed me my dagger and balanced it on the tip of his finger. 'Honestly Cammie, you should be more careful before you lose even more, I thought losing your mother taught you to look after your things…' he said it as if he regretted it, but I sensed the obvious sarcasm behind his words.

I didn't say anything, but gave him an angry look and squeezed my eyes when he pulled his gun out, and pointed it at me.

'Cammie, you and I have a certain debt to fulfill, you know that right?' He said with a grin, as he threw the dagger on the ground, it made a pure _cling_ noise when the metal of the blade touched the cold floor tiles. Nick stepped in between us before he could get any closer.

I grabbed his shoulder, he turned around half to look at me. I shook my head. 'He's my problem, I'll deal with this.' I whispered, even though I had no idea how.

Fred seemed entertained, 'Is this your new boyfriend Cammie?' he asked as he laughed. He stopped walking when he stood in front of Nick. Nick refused to step aside.

I suppressed a smile when I noticed how weak and wimpy Fred looked in comparison to Nick who stood there with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Fred seemed to hesitate for a second, but then looked at the gun he was holding, and smiled.

'No!' I screamed as I felt the tears well up in my eyes.

'So he is...' Fred mumbled as he attempted to walk around Nick to face me.

Nick wouldn't have it though, and he turned so that Fred couldn't get any direct eye contact with me.

'You annoy me.' Fred said, as if he was a king bored with the entertainment. 'Out of my way!' he punched Nick in his face, and I heard a sickening sound when his fist hit Nick's jaw, and Nick fell over.

He wanted to get up immediately to fight back, but Fred now pointed his gun at him. 'No no no no, you fucking stay where you are!'

I wanted to kneel down besides him to see if he was okay, but Fred continued as he brought his face even closer to mine. 'So he is…' he laughed a psychopathic laugh, and I attempted to recoil when I smelled his breath, but he grabbed my chin with one sweaty hand, while he kept pointing his gun at Nick. 'He is your boyfriend, how cute. I think I'll give boyfriend a little show before he dies, I always get what I want Cammie, you know that…'

And with that he leaned closer and kissed me with his warm lips. It was horrible, I desperately tired to push him away from me, but he wouldn't let me go. I opened my eyes and saw his men grinning in the corner while pointing their guns at me, I saw Christa standing in the other corner of the room, her arms crossed in front of her chest, her eyes closed, as if she whished to be somewhere else.

It seemed like forever when he finally let me go. I spat on the ground and wiped my mouth clean, but I knew I would never get that taste out.

Fred didn't care, he got what he wanted and faced Nick. 'Any last words before I kill you and your cute little girlfriend?'

I looked around, willing to beg anyone showing the least bit of mercy for help, but the only one looking at me, instead of Fred slowly approaching Nick with a sadistic smile on his face, was Christa.

She looked at me, and I could see remorse in her eyes, but she couldn't help me now, I knew that.

I started to panic. The tears were almost running down my face. He was going to kill Nick, Nick was going to die and it would be my fault. Because of my past, my problems. Talk about being even… now he'd get shot as well.

_Sadly the bullet wouldn't miss Nick like it missed me…_

Suddenly I remembered the unloaded gun in my pocket. I got it out and cleared my throat, hoping my acting skills were convincing enough, hoping he wouldn't realize how scared I actually was…

Fred turned his head but looked back at Nick right away, uninterested. But his eyes widened and he turned around to face me when he realized I was holding a gun as well.

'Shoot him,' I said, 'and my final action will be killing you right on the spot.'

I heard the two men around me strengthen the grip around their guns, but Fred raised his hand.

'You wouldn't.' he said slowly, but I could hear a slight tone of doubt in his voice.

'Try me.' I said, 'actually… don't' I quickly added.

'You are to much of a fucking coward to-' he couldn't finish his sentence, when he fell to the ground,

'But I'm not.' Nick said as he pulled my dagger out of Fred's back, causing a bloodstain to form on his sweater.

I quickly took Fred's gun from his now lifeless hand, and pointed the unloaded one at one guy, and the loaded one at another. The men just stood there for a second, as if they were still trying to comprehend what was happening.

I couldn't believe how stupid they were. It was as if they weren't even realizing they were also holding guns.

They both kneeled down besides Fred.

'Go.' I heard from behind me. Christa said as she stepped forward to stand next to me.

'You could come with us.' I whispered,

But Christa shook her head. 'I'm looking for someone, and I'll find her up north.'

I nodded. Just that moment, Fred reached out for me with the bloody hand he just pressed against the wound.

'I knew you were a coward…' he whispered because it was the only sound he could make. 'This world is too much for you Cammie, give up.'

I knew he was right in a way. I wanted to turn around, walk away from him, but I couldn't. I had to listen to what he said, and I drowned in his deep lifeless blue eyes.

'Finish it.' He pleaded, although it sounded more like an order. His voice got louder, 'Fulfill that debt of ours, I know you want to.'

I did, I wished I was mentally strong enough to stomp on his head as if he were a lurker. But I couldn't. He was a person, and even though he was Fred, I couldn't kill him.

I felt Nick grabbing my hand to guide me away from the scene.

Fred smiled, 'Running away from your problems just like that last time won't help you Cammie, it won't get you anywhere. I will hunt you down again, count on that.'

I looked at him with cold eyes. 'You don't deserve death. You deserve the torture of this world.'

That caused him to laugh out loud, but his laughter ended in a cough.

I knew he was right. The wound in his back was too shallow to kill him, he was too weak to do anything now, but he would recover. Unless I would end it tonight…

But I wouldn't kill a living, breathing person. I wasn't that far gone, like him.

Nick looked at me, waiting for me to decide what to do. I grabbed his hand.

Nick and I left the lodge together, we ran through the darkness as fast as we could, before Fred's friends came back to their senses.

I didn't look back as I left the guy that had played the starring role in my nightmares for a long time.

'Was it true what he said?' I asked Nick when we slowed down our pace. I didn't look at Nick, but stared at the moon.

'What, that I'm your boyfriend?' he smiled, but the smile melted of his face when he realized I wasn't in the mood for jokes.

I ignored him. 'That I run away from my problems.'

'I guess running away is the best option sometimes.' He said in that reassuring low voice.

I stopped walking, and he turned around to see what was wrong with me.

I leaned over to him and immediately felt his arms around me. I pressed my face against his chest. I thought every guy out there was like Fred, cold, heartless. But Nick was different.

Fred was right; this world was too much for me, too much for me alone, but I had Nick. I needed him to survive.


	14. Trouble On The Road

**Trouble on the road**

My eyes followed the bird. When I approached it, it looked at me with its tiny black eyes and flew of. It gracefully landed on a tree branch above me, tilted its head and looked at me, almost as if it defied me. It laughed at my face. I hated to admit it, but I was really jealous of that feather ball. The bird's life had barely changed when the apocalypse happened, but for us humans, it was back to nature with all of its cruelties. Whenever the bird wanted to, it could fly off, away from all of this. If I reincarnated, I wanted to come back as a bird. Flying freely, not having to worry about anything, leaving it all behind with one wing beat.

It was at that point I realized the hunger was making me think weird things. I violently moved my good arm to scare away the bird, just because it annoyed me it had something I once had, but could never have again; freedom.

The bird flew away, probably to a better place, a place I could only dream of being…

The evening sun began disappearing behind the trees. I was starting to get sick of the trees, but the woods were undoubtedly safer than the cities. How long had it been since I'd last seen a skyscraper though?

'Supper.' Nick appeared from behind a tree and threw one of our last cans of food at me.

He caught me off-guard and the can hit my stomach before falling to the ground.

'Ow…' I mumbled sarcastically while I bent over to pick the can up.

Nick sat down in the grass cross-legged, and invited me to come sit next to him by knocking on the ground.

I also sat down, but at least a meter away from him. I heard him sigh. It seemed as if he was going to ask why I wouldn't sit next to him, but he shrugged, leaned forward and without asking, took my dagger from my belt to open his can with.

'Did you clean it like I asked you to?' he asked as he gave the blade a suspicious look.

'Eh…' I rubbed the back of my head as I got up. 'Sorry, I forgot. I'll be back in a sec!' I snatched the dagger out of his hand and dashed of into the woods looking for a stream. Luckily there were many small streams up north.

The one advantage of the northern part of the woods was the water access.

A few days ago, Nick and I had been attacked by Fred ad a few others, and I'd been really on edge ever since. It was just like the first months after I left my group.

He wouldn't get out of my head… every time I closed my eyes I had the feeling he would sneak up on me to kill me, or worse, kiss me again… maybe I shouldn't have left him. When it came to it I couldn't kill him. I really was weak.

The lodge had been the ideal place, but staying was too risky, who knew how long it would take before others discovered it? They could easily outnumber us…

Taking risks wasn't a smart thing to do nowadays. With winter coming, it would take us a long while before reaching a warmer place. The winter was going to be unbearably cold, and there was definitely going to be a food shortage of some sort. In a way we took a great risk no matter what we did…

I was wondering if I'd make it to see the first daisies in the meadows in spring, I really hoped I would. Everything died during the winter, but spring was the season of life, when all the plants bloomed again…

I'd just have to survive the season of death. No big deal...

It disturbed me I started calling winter the season of death. I used to love the snow, with its glittery white beauty. But now, that deceptive beauty meant nothing but a cold death. At least freezing to death was said to be painless. If I had to go, dying like that wouldn't be the worst of options. But no matter how much it would hurt, I wouldn't turn. Never. I'd rather get my head smashed in with a hammer than become one of those mindless creatures, ruining other people's lives. If you could even call this way of being, living.

I lived, as in that my heart still beat, but really living, enjoying my moments of existence… I'd given up on that a long time ago, at least that's what I thought, but things had started changing since I met Nick. I was still trying to figure out whether that was a good thing or not.

I woke up from my thoughts when I saw cold water running down a hill's slope. I kneeled down and held the blade of my dagger in the water until it sparkled more than the water itself. Everything around me was so quiet… just the way it was supposed to be.

My can was still in the big pockets of my new sweater. I took it out and used my dagger to open it and cursed when the blade briefly scraped my skin open. A droplet of pure dark red blood dripped from the shallow cut on my finger into the water. I held my hand in the water and looked at how the blood on my hand dissolved until the wound was clean. The cut was small, and stopped bleeding almost immediately.

I tried once more, carefully this time, and managed to open the can.

I took a juicy peach out, closed my eyes, and put the overly sweet piece of fruit in my mouth. I wasn't used to something as sweet as this. Sure, I'd eaten a lot of berries, but they'd been more sour than sweet.

When I was younger, I only ate sweet things. I wouldn't want anything else. My mother would then tell me about the children in poor countries having no food, and how I had to be more grateful. I never really understood that, but now that I knew what it felt like to be hungry, so hungry you were desperate to eat anything edible, I felt bad for them.

How were the other countries surviving the apocalypse, had the plague only spread here, was it really possible somewhere in this world, people still lived the way they did before the apocalypse? So many questions, but we would probably never get an answer to any of them.

Pretty much a week after the outbreak, all contact with other countries had been lost. The idea of people, living life the way they were used to at this moment got me more jealous than I'd been of the bird. That wouldn't be fair. It wouldn't be fair they got to eat till they were full while we, survivors, had to scrimp on food every time we found some because we had no idea when we got to eat again. Every meal could be my last.

I stopped eating as I realized these children from the poor countries my mother always talked about, must have thought the same thing at the time…

I got up and wanted to make my way back to Nick since I didn't want him to get worried. The can was now empty, and I walked towards it to pick it up and get rid of it somehow, but accidentally kicked it away.

I didn't really think about it when I walked after it to pick it up again. The can lay in the mud. I bended over to pick it up, but then I realized on what I stood.

I slowly raised my foot as I examined the strange patterns in the moist muddy ground. They were undoubtedly car tracks.

I shifted my gaze over to the distance, and even though it was hard to say because of the thick fog layer hovering above the ground, the tracks seemed to be going on for a long while. Car tracks… they couldn't be anything else, and they weren't old. It had rained not too long ago, so they had to be fresh.

That meant there was a car close by…!

I didn't have time to think about whether that was a good or a bad thing as I rushed along the path back to Nick.

When I got there, my reared behavior alarmed him, and he stood up. 'Cammie, what took you so long?' he asked, as he got closer. 'Did you come across someone?' he asked without waiting for an answer for his first question, '…or something…?' he added.

For a second I just stood there to catch my breath.

'C'mon.' I said as I grabbed his sleeve and dragged him with me towards the car tracks. 'You gotta see this!'

He didn't struggle, as I took him to where I'd seen the tracks.

When he saw them, his jaw dropped.

'Should we be relieved or worried about this?' I asked because I wasn't sure myself.

'I…I don't know…' he mumbled as he walked along the tracks. 'It's been so long since I've come across a working car… Well, actually the last time was…' suddenly his eyes widened in a moment of realization.

'So what now?' I whispered, almost afraid a car was going to come out of nowhere.

'Well let's follow them.' He said as he turned around to face me.

'I can't see which way they go.' I said as I turned around to face the other side of the path. 'Can you?'

'That way.' Nick said pointing south. 'You can see from the way these are different from-' he started explaining as he pointed at the other side of the road,

'I seriously can't see any differences.' I interrupted his explanation.

'I think,' he said as he got closer to me, 'I know to who this car belongs, and if I'm right, this person will have no reason of moving north, he'll be goin' back south.'

'Whose do you think it is then?' I asked, but I had a bad feeling I knew who it was.

'Carver has a van.' He said with a hardened face. 'He is the only one in this area I know who has a runnin' vehicle. If it's his, there may be a chance I can find my friends.' He said.

We started walking along the muddy tracks. We didn't talk, and the silence started getting awkward. Not that I cared, I didn't really mind silence. In a way silence meant safety.

Nick started walking slower. He walked behind, instead of next to me, but then I realized he wasn't walking slower, I just walked faster, creating distance…

'Cammie…' his voice echoed through the woods.

Suddenly I could feel how the entire forest got quiet, even quieter than just now. There was only he and I.

His body was just a few inches away from mine, I stepped back, but he wouldn't let me escape that easily as he grabbed both my wrists.

'Why are you so afraid of me?' he whispered, so soft I wouldn't have heard him if he hadn't been so close.

My breath got stuck in my throat as he slightly bent over to bring his mouth closer to mine. I wanted to find a reason to back away from him, no matter how much I needed him, I still didn't want to fall in love with him, although I got the feeling it might be too late for that. I had to create some distance that would help getting a clear head so that I could tell him I couldn't be with him, not that way.

He kept getting closer, his lips almost touched mine and I could feel his breath stroke my cheeks.

My self-control only went this far, and I couldn't help but long for another kiss like that first one.

I gave up and closed my eyes as I accepted, and embraced my weakness.

Just before his mouth closed the gap in between us, I heard a rustling noise in the bushes, and I tilted my head to face the direction where the sound had come from.

Nick had been so caught up in the moment he hadn't even heard it. He sighed, let go of my wrists and looked down with a beaten expression on his face. 'I'm sorry…' he mumbled, 'I just thought-'

'Ssst!' I interrupted him as I took my dagger out of its hilt and carefully approached the bushes.

The bewildered gaze of a somehow familiar face startled me, but he wasn't looking at me. I jumped aside when an orange smudge dashed out of the bushes and hugged Nick tight.

In the heat of the moment I could only think one thing, _oh crap…_

* * *

**_Hey guys,_**

**_I updated a lot for my doing this week, because I won't be able to post any new chapters for 3 to 4 weeks. Sorry! I'll leave you with this lame open end for now, so you'll have quite some time to think of who the orange smudge will be... ;)_**

**_Thank you so much for all the kind reviews, they make me really happy!_**

**_~See you guys in a month ~_**


	15. High Road, Low Road

**High Road, Low Road **

All I could hear was my own uneven breathing. A cold breeze played with my hair, as I stood there, paralyzed.

I recognized him, that curly brown hair, his machete; he was undoubtedly Nick's friend.

When Luke finally let go of Nick, the two didn't pay any attention to me, but started firing questions at each other.

'You're alive?' Luke asked as he ran a hand through his hair as if he had a hard time comprehending what just happened. 'Clem told me what happened at the stream, and honestly, I didn't think you'd make it!'

'Where is everyone, where's Pete?' Nick asked as he looked around as if he expected his friends to jump form behind the trees and shout "surprise".

Luke's face darkened as he looked at the ground and scratched the back of his head.

I knew that gesture too well. The gesture people make when bad news is often to follow.

'Carver…' he started, 'we were hiding at a lodge, but Carver found us, I managed to hide, but he took the rest…'

I had the feeling he was leaving something out on purpose, something important.

'Fuck…fuck…' Nick mumbled as he held his face in his hands.

I hated seeing Nick like this, so I stepped toward him. I hesitated, but put my hand on his back in a desperate attempt to comfort him. It seemed to work, but I immediately realized I shouldn't have, because the two men turned around.

'Oh right.' Nick said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, a gesture that almost seemed possessive, 'This is Cammie, without her there is no way I woulda have made it this far.'

Luke smiled at me, but the smile slowly melted from his face, and I saw recognition in his eyes.

_Oh fuck…_

'Wait…' he said as he eyed me with suspicion, 'But- It's you?!' his eyes widened.

'You guys know each other?' Nick asked as he shifted his gaze from me to Luke and back. I could feel him flinch and he dropped his arm.

I couldn't take it anymore. 'I-I'm so sorry Nick,' I began as I felt the tears stinging behind my eyes, 'I was-I was going to tell you, I swear.'

Luke interrupted me, 'Had you seen Nick, did you know where he was when I asked you that night?'

He got closer and the suspicious look had now changed to hatred.

Nick suddenly awoke from his trance and looked at me as he stepped back to stand next to Luke, an action meaning he was on his side.

'You met Luke, he asked you about me, and you didn't tell me?!'

'I-I' I wanted to say something, explain, make them at least a little bit less angry. But an explanation ceased to from. Of course it did. I didn't have one. All I did was stand there stumbling over my own words.

'I trusted you…' he said as he looked straight at me. I couldn't bare that pained look in his eyes. 'I thought I could trust you, I thought you helped me look for my friends, but all you did was lead me away from them?' he asked.

'No, its not like that I swear!' my voice cracked.

'All that bullshit about moving south, you were just trying to create distance between them and me! Was that your plan all along?'

I could see him link everything in his head. I could see him drawing wrong conclusions.

'NO!' I cried out, 'that's never been what I planned!'

'Well then what were you plannin' exactly?' Luke asked.

I already hated this guy, I knew I had no reason to, because I was the bad guy in this situation, but I already had enough trouble trying to explain my reasons to Nick without him joining the argument.

'Let me… let me make up for it!' I shouted desperately.

The two raised one eyebrow at the same time.

'I-I'll help you free your friends from that Carvy- Carver.' I corrected myself just in time, this was no time for joking about Carver's name. They had to take me seriously.

Nick's eyes widened, and for one brief second, I thought he was going to forgive me, but when he looked at me again, his eyes were so cold it frightened me.

'Please…' I said as I looked up at him.

'No!' he snapped. 'You've already done more than enough for me!'

I gasped for air and ignored the impulse to protect my face with my arms when he stepped toward me angrily.

'Go away and leave me alone.' He said it awfully calm.

I made a pained sound, and even Luke dropped his angry mask and looked sideways at Nick in amazement.

'I said go, LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!'

I fell on my knees, in the squishy muddy car tracks and burrowed my face in my hands. I waited for the tears to come, but they wouldn't.

I knew what I'd done was wrong, I knew Nick had every right not to forgive me, but this wasn't the Nick I knew. How could he do this to me? I thought he had feelings for me, I'd been so sure. But this was all it took for him to leave me in the mud.

'C'mon.' his cold voice mumbled, but it wasn't meant for me, I knew that without having to look up.

Luke sounded as if he hesitated. 'But- but what about-?'

'I said c'mon!' Nick snapped in a raised voice, and I could hear he'd already started walking.

'Nick you can't- we can't just leave her here…'

I didn't want his pity, not after he'd ruined everything. I forced myself to get up.

I looked at Nick. His face was as cold as the wind that blew my hair in my face.

He wouldn't, he couldn't, it shouldn't have to end like this!

I looked at him with pleading eyes, silently begging for him to say he forgave me. I wanted him to wrap his arms around me so that I would be squeezed against his chest, so that I'd be where I belonged, in his arms.

I cried quietly but kept looking at him.

All he did was turn around and he walked until the fog hid him from my sight.

'Nick, wait!' Luke called out, 'Nick what the fuck, we can't just…' his voice trailed off as he ran after Nick and I was alone.

I knew I should never have let any emotion out, I knew I shouldn't have saved Nick in the shed that day. Love equals pain, I knew that, I'd known it all along, and yet I'd been so stupid as to open heart for him, even though I'd been right about boys all along. They were all like Fred.

Why would I even want to live, I had nothing left to fight for. I took my dagger from my hilt. It weighed heavy in my shaking hand.

It seemed my options were limited.

I could return to the lodge and die a slow painful death, the last thing I'd hear would be Fred's laughter, I could just live on my half life and one day end the way everyone would, as a rotting, walking corpse,

Or, I could just end it myself. I looked at my dagger's clean blade and laughed. The weapon that had saved my life all these times, all of the fighting to stay alive, it had all been useless. Everyone in the apocalypse was doomed. Wouldn't you get eaten alive you'd lose your mind.

I slowly brought my dagger to my wrist, but hesitated. I didn't want to become one of those monsters myself. One stab in my head had to be enough. I'd done it so many times I knew just where to place the blade and felt the sharp tip on my head.

When I was younger I'd never understood suicidal people. Why would you want to end life when you had no idea where you'd go afterwards?

I understood now. Anything was better than this.

The fog got thicker. I couldn't see anything but the silvery glow of the fog in the moonlight. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad way to die. I'd die alone and unloved, No one would cry for me, perhaps Fred, because he hadn't finished me of himself…

Maybe it was for the best.

I closed my eyes and raised my arm to thrust the blade into my own skull.

A cool wind dazed me. I heard a song from far away sang by a warm familiar voice…

…_Oh, ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road,_

_And I'll get to Scotland afore ye;_

_For me and my true love will never meet again_

_On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond…_

I opened my eyes. Right before me, a figure made her way toward me through the fog.

She wore a silver dress that glowed brightly in the light of the moon I could no longer see.

'Cammie…' her melodious echoing voice said as she got closer and pressed her cool hand against my forehead.

I looked up at her shining face. She frowned and briefly touched the tip of my nose, but I didn't feel it, as if she corrected a toddler that'd done something bad.

'This is no way to die.'

I wanted to talk to her, embrace her, ask her how it was up there, but my mother hovered above me, and it was as if I hadn't been taught how to speak.

'You have so much left to live for.' she said as a single golden tear fell from her face to the ground. 'Go help your friend, he needs you right now, more than you can imagine.'

I shook my head. I tried explaining to her he hated me, he didn't need me, he had Luke now, he was with his friends. But as I opened my mouth no sound came out.

'Go.' Her appearance started getting blurry and her voice got softer. She rose up in the air.

I wanted to scream, cry, and beg her to take me with her.

'You're may come up here Cammie,' I heard her say, 'but not too soon please.' And with that she left.

* * *

My eyes shot open and I lifted my head. Early daylight seeped through the tree's leaves. I'd slept? In the middle of the road?! I couldn't believe how lucky I was nothing had found me...

My mother… had she really appeared? I looked around, secretly hoping to see any sign she'd been real, but nothing in the green forest had changed.

I got up and looked at the road. Nick and Luke's footsteps were still clearly visible in the mud. Then I looked at my dagger, and thought of the decision I'd made earlier.

I could go south, and follow Nick even though he clearly didn't want me there, or I could go north to die.

A tough choice, but either was a way out.

I thought of that song my mother just sang to me, it had been one of my favorite childhood songs. Just like many other things, my naïve self hadn't understood any of it, it'd just sounded pretty. Deep down I knew which road to take. I walked as I quietly sang.

'_Oh, ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road,_

_And I'll get to Scotland afore ye;_

_For me and my true love will never meet again_

_On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond_.'

* * *

**Hey guys, **

**Thanks for the patience, I'm back, at long last another chapter! ;)**

**I was originally planning to end the story soon, since I've been working on another TWD story, but I want to finish this one first. But when I played Amid the ruins, I got many ideas to fit Cammie in so I wanted to ask you guys whether you think I should continue or not.**

**Please tell me what you think, your nice reviews make my day!**


	16. Be Strong

**Hey guys,**

**I felt kinda bad for splitting up Cammie and Nick... again...**

**So I decided to write this chapter from Nick's perspective. Please tell me if you like the concept, if so, I might do more in the future, if not I'll just switch back to Cammie **

**hope you'll enjoy :)**

* * *

**Be strong**

He would never forget the way she stood there before him. Those beautiful, but desperate brown eyes, looking for the slightest hint he hadn't meant what he said, that pained expression on her face, the tears sparkling in her eyes, the way her shoulders shook when they fell…

It hurt him more than he was willing to admit.

He'd turned around and walked away from her. It had been one of the most difficult things he ever had to do, aside from killing his own mother. Even now, a full day since he'd last seen her, she was all he could think of.

She probably hated him now. And who could blame her? But it was for the best. He kept telling himself. What did he have to offer her, safety? No way. Carver would shoot the hell out of her. It was for the best… and yet he wished he hadn't walked away.

Cammie would be better of somewhere far away from him and his trouble. He would never be able to forgive himself if something happened to her, and even though he knew right at that moment she had to be safer than she was with him, he wanted to hold her in his arms, where nothing could ever harm her.

Unlike most people, Carver never forgot a face. He had tried to kill Cammie, but he hadn't succeeded. He wanted revenge.

Carver was dangerous. Cammie thought light of him, but she had no idea what he was capable of. Fred had been sick in his head, sure, but all he'd wanted was her, and Nick understood why.

Carver wanted more than just revenge, what he wanted most of all was power. People and land to rule over. He wanted to show everyone how strong he was, and the fact Cammie had escaped him once meant she could be a possible threat in the future.

Nothing would harm her, not as long as he could prevent it.

Nick walked along the path with Luke next to him. The latter glanced sideways nervously and opened and closed his mouth, as if he wanted to say something but changed his mind because he was afraid of him or his reaction.

It reminded him an awful lot of Cammie's behavior the last few days. There she was again. He couldn't think of anything else, and it drove him crazy. His heart ached whenever her face appeared in his mind.

His face must've looked as pained as he felt inside, because Luke bent over slightly and finally spoke.

'You okay?' he asked as he slowed down his pace.

Nick wanted to respond in an angry way, because did he look okay? But when he took a good look at Luke's face he realized Luke looked tired. His face was pale, his expression beaten and he had purple bags underneath his eyes. 'Why wouldn't I be?' he answered in a slightly more aggressive tone than he'd meant.

'Don't ya think…' Luke began, but his voice trailed of.

'What?' Nick asked as he violently kicked a pebble away.

Luke sighed. 'Don't ya think you were a bit hard on that girl? I mean c'mon, she looked like she wouldn't be gettin' up anytime soon.'

'Yeah, well she did get up, so let's just forget about her and keep movin' already.'

Luke seemed to want to argue with him, but Nick wouldn't let him. Talking about Cammie hurt, and the last thing he wanted was for Luke to think he was weak.

He had to be strong.

'Nick, I gotta… I gotta tell you somethin'.' Luke's voice quietly said from behind him.

Nick turned around. He hadn't expected that tone, Luke sounded scared, almost as if he was afraid to break him.

'When,' he shook his head, 'no IF we get to Carver's I want you to know that not everyone… made it.' Luke finally said.

Nick lost his stomach, he was afraid of the unspoken words that hung in between them.

'Back at the lodge, Alvin was-'

'I know.' Nick interrupted him, but just as he wanted to explain Cammie and him had stayed at the lodge as well, Luke raised his hand to indicate he hadn't finished yet and Nick felt more anxious than ever.

'But even before that… God, Nick I-I don't know how to tell you this so I'm just gonna say it… Pete's dead.'

Inside of him, something just snapped. Nick could clearly hear Luke talking, but it was as if he'd been turned off. Nothing reached him, not even the cold wind blowing in his face. He didn't understand what else Luke was saying, all he wanted was for him to say he was joking, he wanted to hear Luke say Pete was with the others, under Carver's command, but safe.

But Luke wouldn't say that. Instead he stopped talking and looked at him.

Nick tried really hard to remember the last moment he and his uncle hadn't been fighting, but he couldn't remember. The last thing he'd said to his uncle had been something like "whatever" after another one of his life lessons. He hadn't even said sorry.

Nick felt the tears stinging behind his eyes. First his mother, then uncle, who'd be next? Luke, Cammie?

He felt his friend's arms around him. 'Nick he's gone, he- he's gone. I know how much it hurts, I know man I do, but we gotta keep movin' alright, I-'

Nick shook himself free from Luke's embrace. He felt empty inside, like nothing mattered.

They walked on for what seemed like forever, and Luke kept glancing sideways at Nick nervously as if he was afraid Nick would collapse in front of him to never get up again.

Nick however didn't realize this as he stumbled along the path like a lurker.

He felt like one, like life didn't matter. As childish as it sounded, he wanted to cry, he wanted his mother, he wanted uncle Pete, he wanted his life to be the way it was before the apocalypse.

He looked at his feet stumbling through the muddy tracks they'd been following for an eternity.

It was as if he lived in a nightmare, a terrible nightmare, but just a dream. It felt as if he should be able to just wake up, climb out of his messy bed, walk downstairs, get in his car, drive to the small coffee shop, and meet up with Luke there. Just like he always did. He was done with this life. He wanted to wake up.

What he wanted most of all was Cammie's presence. He wanted t hold her in his arms and hear her say everything would be alright. Thinking of her made him relive the brief time they'd spent together.

The evening when he first met her in the shed, (which was a bit vague thanks to the whiskey), when they said goodbye, when he met up with her again, he would never forget the joy he felt when he saw her after those few days.

She made him happier than any amount of whiskey ever could. But the memory he was fondest of, was when she looked up at him and smiled. That smile made him forget all the trouble in the world, made it seem as if there was nothing but her and him.

Nick couldn't care less when a lurker stumbled from behind a tree, saw him, and started limping toward him.

He had no weapon, he had no strength to do anything, but Luke appeared from behind him, took his machete and took care of the undead corpse in a similar way to how Cammie did with her dagger.

Nick had a strong feeling that if they'd met under different circumstances, Luke and Cammie could've been friends. Not only because they shared the same taste in weapons, but also because they were both strong in a similar way. In a way he could never be.

Dark red blood oozed out of the deep cut in the lurker's skull.

But as Luke pulled his knife out of the lifeless body, another lurker appeared from behind him and fell on top of him. Luke screamed and rolled through the mud trying to push the lurker of him. The dead corpse tried to bite in Luke's face and got dangerously close.

Nick wanted to help. He had to! But it was as if he hung above the scene doing nothing but watching. He couldn't move, couldn't think.

With a grunt, Luke managed to push the body of him and without thinking he stabbed the blade of his machete in its eye. The lurker's flailing arms fell on the ground to never move by themselves again.

Luke got up, turned around and glared angrily at Nick, who stood there ashamed of himself because of his lack of help.

'Nick, listen to me!' Luke shouted angrily. 'I know Pete was close to you, but you gotta snap out of it! Maybe I shouldn't have told you, maybe it would've been for the best, I felt like you had the right to know. But Nick please, I need your help!'

"_Nick please, I need your help, I can't do this alone!"_

Cammie's voice echoed through his head.

Cammie had said the exact same thing to wake him up, right before she'd kissed him.

He had to be strong, for Luke, for Cammie. He forced himself to forget about his uncle, all the time they'd spent together hunting, all of the things he'd taught him, the times he'd seen his old car drive up the road to take him to his uncle's house when his father had been in a bad mood, he forced himself to forget all of it. It was as if he put the fond memories in a box inside his head. It was a box he would open up when all of this was over. When he was ready to face the fact that his uncle, uncle Pete he had always regarded as undefeatable, had died. And that he wouldn't be coming back.

He looked up at Luke and nodded.

Luke seemed relieved and nodded back at him.

Nick looked around and saw nothing but trees, but he immediately noticed there was something wrong.

Around them it was quiet. Too quiet… the few birds had stopped singing, the wind had stopped howling and Luke and Nick met each other's gaze.

'Somethin' ain't right…' Luke whispered, and they found out what it was. It had been quiet for a second, but now they heard grunting and moaning around them, it came from the trees, from deeper in the forest, but it would be a matter of seconds before it reached the two of them. The nerve wrecking, sickening sounds surrounded them, they were in the middle of a herd, and it sounded like a big one.

'Run!' Luke said in a raised voice, Nick didn't have time to hesitate, so they did.

They ran along the path, and more and more lurkers began appearing from behind the trees. Nick dashed toward the left to avoid the flailing arms of a lurker crossing his path, but fell over another one leaning against a tree bark. He struggled to get up, but three other walking corpses were making their way toward him when the one he'd just stumbled over tried getting hold of his arm to bite him.

Nick panicked and desperately kicked and hit everything around him until finally he felt Luke pulling one Lurker he'd just killed of him. Nick got up and they ran, faster than he'd ever run before. The wind blew in his face, his muscles ached, but he couldn't stop, until he felt something grab him from behind. He could smell the stench of decay, he heard the strange noises they always made right next to his ear, and he knew, death was but an inch away.

With all his might, Nick pulled himself free, and his cap fell from his head. Nick didn't even have time to see it fall to the ground as he kept running after Luke.


	17. Breaking In

**Breaking in **

Luke bent over to catch his breath, and Nick leaned against a tree. He scratched is head and frowned. He wasn't used to not wearing his cap, it made him feel bald, even though his wild black hair hadn't been cut properly in a long time.

Luckily, the lurkers were slow, so after about fifteen minutes of running, they'd found themselves alone in the forest once again.

'Alright…' Luke mumbled. 'Lets move.'

Nick hesitated. 'Are you sure man, you look-'

'I'm fine.' Luke interrupted him. 'We gotta keep movin'.'

The Howe's Hardware complex appeared from behind the trees, and Nick saw countless amounts of lurkers roaming around the parking lot.

Luke snuck toward a container and signaled him that it was safe.

As quiet as he could Nick walked over to the blue container while bending over to keep himself low and out of the sight of the possible guards up the roof.

'I dunno where I'd rather be right now…' Luke whispered without lifting his eyes from the barricade Carver had forced his people to make. 'out here or in there… how do we get in though…?'

Through a small hole in the barricade Nick saw someone in a very light blue jacket walking by.

'Someone's coming!' he whispered while he pulled Luke's head behind the container.

Luke however, struggled. 'Wait wait, is that-? That's Clem! I didn't recognize her because of the jacket…'

Clem walked past the container, and glanced through another narrow crack in the barricade. She seemed to be judging how strong it was, which it really wasn't. She frowned and walked on.

Apparently Carver had set her to work immediately, because she carried a ton of something.

'Look up there.' Luke whispered as he pointed to a point somewhere up the building.

There he stood, Carver was talking to Troy up the roof, one of his favorite places, because he could look down on his people that way… Nick gulped.

When the wind stopped howling, they could just make out a small part of their conversation.

'Got it Bill.' Troy said as he avoided looking straight at carver. 'I'll just make 'em work faster.'

'Good.' Carver responded in his low terrifying raspy voice. 'I'm not sayin' that herd is gonna be a big problem, but I want this area done just in case.'

'Look at all the dust they're kickin' up though…' Troy said, and Nick got anxious when his gaze shifted over to the parking lot where he and Luke were hiding.

'It'll probably pass us.' Carver said as he looked at the rising sun.

'What happened up there with Reggie by the way, somethin' I should worry 'bout?' Troy asked carefully as he nodded towards the ground somewhere behind the containers he and Luke hid.

'That ain't your problem.' Carver answered. 'Just make sure they get this done in time and you ain't got nothin' to worry about.' The way he said it, he made it seem like a threat, and Nick could almost smell Troy's fear.

'Alright…' Troy answered, but Nick realized Troy couldn't help but give whatever lay on the ground they couldn't see from behind the container one last glance.

Luke nudged him to get his attention, and with some effort, Nick managed to look away. He didn't want to know what had happened to Reggie, he didn't want to hear another one of his friends had died.

'I gotta go talk to Clem, okay? She's our only hope right now.' Luke whispered. 'If she can get me one of those radios we'll have a bigger chance of gettin' everyone outta there. Well, we'll at least be able to communicate with the rest, and that's already a lot more than we got now.'

'How is that little girl gonna do anything?' he asked. He didn't feel like putting all of their faith in a kid.

'I spent quite some time with her, trust me, she's a lot stronger than she looks.'

'She's just a little girl!' he interrupted him.

She's a _valuable_ little girl. We shouldn't underestimate her.'

Nick sighed and looked at Luke's face. He realized again, how tired Luke looked, as if he could fall asleep on the spot. 'How do you want to get her attention with Troy standing watch?' he asked nervously while ignoring the urge to slap Luke across the face when his eyelids almost shut.

He opened them at the sound of Nick's voice, and had to think about his question for a second, until he looked at something behind him, and his eyes widened. 'Ya see that point in the barricade over there?'

He turned around and saw that at one point, the wooden walls stopped, and became a building. After a row of windows, the barricade continued. They obviously hadn't finished that part of the wall yet.

'I know it sounds crazy,' Luke said, 'but if you could break the glass to get Troy's attention, and then hide, I'd be able to climb over the fence, and run over to that store over there.'

'I dunno man…' Nick mumbled. 'It's pretty damn risky…'

'I know…' he answered, 'but it's all we got.'

'Maybe we should wait and come up with a more careful plan…' Nick mumbled as he raised himself a bit to look at Carver again. Up on the roof Carver turned his head, and Nick dropped himself behind the container just before their eyes met.

Luke sighed. 'You get why I wanna do it now?' Clem is right there, we might not get a chance like this again any time soon.'

Nick hesitated as he chewed on his fingernail, an annoying habit from before the apocalypse.

'Listen, I know it's risky, but I got nothin' else…'

'Alright then.' Nick said as he turned to look at the row of windows. 'So what do I do when you're in?' he asked.

'Just make sure nobody sees you, and I'll…' Luke's eyelids almost shut again and just before Nick wanted to snap his fingers to wake him up, he shook his head and looked at him. He didn't look good. 'I'll flag you down from there when no one watches and you'll join me, okay?'

Nick nodded and sighed once more. 'Fuck 'em.' He mumbled as he tried to forget how afraid he was. He quietly crept toward the window.

He knew this was a stupid and reckless plan, but just like Luke said, it was all they had. He flinched and ducked besides the window when he heard angry voices from inside the building.

The window had been partially barricaded with a wooden board, so Nick couldn't see, but only hear what was going on inside.

'I ain't nobody's laborer. Fuck that! Let 'em do this shit themselves if it's so goddamn important!' a loud voice said angrily.

'Get your fucking hands off me man!' a lower voice responded.

'You ain't gonna force me to do this bullshit!'

'I said get your hands off me!'

'Or what? You gonna go tell on me?' the angry man responded sarcastically.

'I'm trying to help you asshole!'

'Yeah, this is a real help! Why don't you just worry about yourself.'

'Stop fighting!' a high-pitched voice suddenly joined the fight. Nick's eyes widened, it was a high-pitched voice he recognized as Clementine's.

'I want to Clem, but this son of a bitch keeps testin' me!'

Nick stood as low as he could while trying to blend in with the environment, as he watched the lurkers limping toward the glass drawn by the loud man's voice. About four of them started pounding at the old glass with their rotten blood red hands. It didn't take much force for the glass to break, and the tiny fragments scattered all over the asphalt with familiar unmistakable jingling sounds. They sparkled in the morning sunlight. All of the lurkers stumbled through the hole, pushing each other aside in the progress like hungry wolves, but ignoring each other completely as soon as they'd each picked a prey. The sound had drawn several others, but they were too far away to be a danger to him.

The last thing Nick heard one of the people inside say was, 'Shit, fuck grab something!'

Even though he hadn't done it, he fled toward the woods to hide behind the trees, and saw to his relief, that Carver had left before the window had broken, and Troy had heard the chaos, and ran towards the ladder to get down and see what was happening. On the other side of the blue containers Nick saw Luke, pushing his tired body to its limits as he climbed over the improvised wall.

So far, everything went according to plan, unless Clementine would get eaten, but that wasn't his biggest concern right that moment.

He leaned against the bark of a tree, and made sure he was well out of sight before he dropped to the ground. He burrowed his face in his cold hands.

He was tired. He hadn't slept at all last night, and if he was to believe Luke, he hadn't had much more sleep than him. A lot less actually.

_Maybe I should've climbed over that wall… _he thought as he picked up a stone and threw it into the air to catch it again.

Strangely he wasn't concerned about himself at all, nor was he about the fact he was about to face Carver again, or the herd making its way toward the hardware store.

All he was concerned about was Cammie. He wished he knew how she was doing. Would he ever see her again?

At least she was somewhere a lot safer than where he was.

'Cammie,' he mumbled quietly while looking up at the cloudy sky, 'I really hope you listened to me…'


	18. Herdwalking

**Herdwalking**

My world stopped spinning when I saw the hat lying in the mud. I immediately recognized it as if it was my own.

Two lurkers roamed around where the cap was lying, as if they were guarding an ancient treasure. As soon as they saw me they both stumbled towards me reaching out with their hands.

In one swift move I took my dagger and stabbed the closest one in its knee. As it fell over I dodged the other one that made, what seemed like a run to get to me. Before the first one could get up I stabbed it in its head.

Just as I wanted to pat myself on the shoulder and point out how good I'd gotten at this, the second lurker grabbed me from behind and we both fell over. I gasped for air and pushed against the rotting torso.

The lurker wasn't heavy. She'd been a lightweight before she died, so pushing her of wasn't too difficult. Her rotting body landed in the mud inches away from me. I picked up the dagger I'd dropped on the ground out of surprise earlier, and kept it ready for when the lurker would go for a second try. With loud gargling that could undoubtedly be heard throughout the entire forest she threw her rotting self at me again. This time I was ready though, so before she could land on me, her head was split open like a watermelon. Sometimes you just have to throw a stupid comparison in to keep the killing light.

I really didn't want to, but couldn't help seeing her skull open like that. That brain had contained memories and experiences. It had been her. And now it was just another rotting body part. Who had this woman been? In the apocalypse you quickly stopped asking yourself questions like that. You would never get an answer anyway and they only made you feel depressed.

I walked over to the hat. It was cold. Tears welled up in my eyes. 'No… no…' I whispered. 'What the fuck did you do?' I shouted at the dead lurker lying in the mud. The mud had made it a little dirty, but I knew it was Nick's hat. He had definitely been here.

When I examined the mud tracks, I saw that there had been quite a struggle where I'd found the cap. I'd seen Luke and Nick had had some encounters already, with several messy pairs of footprints joining and leaving theirs frequently, but as I gazed over to the distance there were two pairs of footsteps continuing down the road.

Just two, and they were human.

I sighed in relief. It frightened me how scared I'd been just a second ago. Since when was Nick my everything?

I picked up his hat and put it on my head. It felt so familiar, as if I'd found an old friend back. Nick felt almost as close to me as he was when I'd kissed him.

I chewed on my lip as I walked on. The footsteps continued for as far as I could see, but what if they'd reached the road? I had no idea where "we" were going. "We" in quotation marks because I wasn't actually part of the group anymore. Nick didn't want me near him anymore. Would he be angry when he saw me again? If he saw me again?

I started doubting my plan. 'Just don't think about it…' I whispered to myself.

As stupid as it sounded, the hat made me feel stronger. I had a goal again; I'd get this hat to Nick.

Luckily I was hydrated and I'd eaten not too long ago, but I had no idea how long I'd still be walking. My stomach was already complaining. I shook my head and ignored it. Getting to Nick was my top priority right that moment. I could think about food later. Somehow I felt worse than I'd felt the last time we'd been separated.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw what lay ahead of me. Many, many lurkers were stumbling over where Luke and Nick's footsteps had once been.

I gulped. I knew people who had walked through herds before, but I knew even more who had _tried_, but failed to succeed.

How was I going to survive this one? I sighed.

My eyes fell on a dead lurker a meter from my feet. There'd been several along the path, probably Nick and Luke's work.

I knew the number one rule for herd walking, rub yourself in their blood. The worst smell in the world.

A while back, a _long_ while when I'd still been with my old group, several guys with a huge ego had joined our group. We'd been with so many back then, so I never really talked to them, they frightened me, and their smell was so terrible no one could stand being around them for too long. They were proud of that though, it had been what kept them alive. When did the world become a place where people were proud of the fact they smelled like rotting guts…

I'd heard them calling themselves "Herdwalkers". They joined us, because we'd been moving north, looking for some sort of Wonderland called Wellington. They looked for herds to join because they made quite some distance that way. One of them got shot because people mistook him for a lurker, another fell and broke his leg, we left him behind, one was lost in a building we'd tried to loot that turned out to be full of the dead, one left us when a herd came by, and the last one decided to give up on the whole herdwalking thing, because he finally realized how stupid and reckless it was. I had no idea what became of him.

The history of the Herdwalkers in a nutshell.

At least they'd survived walking through herds, meaning it was possible. Back then it had sounded really scary to me. I'd figured the herd had to be really big for them to mistake you for one of them.

The herd in front of me was rather big for as far as I could see. At least it seemed to continue for a long while.

I looked up at the trees. I'd much rather climb my way from tree to tree like a monkey… I really didn't want to be so close to them, killing them to live was one thing, but being around them like that… the idea terrified me.

I had to act quickly if I was planning to walk through the herd, because some lurkers had turned around and came my direction.

I kneeled beside the dead lurker and ripped her open with my dagger. I felt like a psychopathic serial killer…

I screamed when cold dead fingers suddenly grabbed my wrist and fell on my back when the lurker got up and got close to my face.

_Of course, check if they're dead first._

That's what the Herdwalkers had told everyone who was interested enough to listen to their heroic stories for long enough. Herdwalking rule number two…

Some of the other lurkers had heard me scream.

_Fuck…_

So far the herdwalking idea.

I panicked and squirmed my way from underneath the lurker.

Trees. The best backup plan I had. What would I do without nature?

Ignoring the several arms trying to get hold of me I ran towards the first climbable tree I saw. I hadn't climbed in a long while. There was no need to when I'd been with Nick. Was it possible to forget such a skill?

I jumped up, got hold of a sturdy branch and pulled myself up with some difficulty. My arm started stinging because of what I made it go through. 'C'mon…' I groaned, 'Just a little more!' finally I managed to shift my weight over the branch.

I looked down at several desperate lurkers flailing their rotting arms.

'Haha!' I sarcastically said as I stuck out my tongue. 'The human 1, Lurkers 0!' I laughed because of my own stupidity. 'Woah!' I quickly got hold of the branch again when I almost lost my balance. 'Alright…' I whispered, 'I kinda deserved that one…'

I shifted my gaze over to the forest. Far away I saw a building. Even if that wasn't my end destination, it would be a nice stop on the way. There were no trees I could climb over to close by, so I'd have to wait till these corpses forgot about me.

_Great…_

I climbed a bit higher up and tried to get comfortable. Judging by all the lurkers making their way towards my tree, I'd be stuck here for a while.

I sighed and wondered for the millionth time that day how Nick was doing. Better than me, at least I really hoped he was.

* * *

**Heya,**

**Just a quick question,**

**I have an idea for both, so ****I can write the next chapter from either Cammie's or Nick's perspective.**

**Tell me which you want to read for the next chapter, cause I can't decide... ;)**

**Thank you so much for your support and the kind reviews, they make me really happy. **

**Love you guys!**


	19. Chased

**Chased **

A lurker head turned, when a stomach growled loudly from behind a tree. The person to who the stomach belonged cursed before dashing deeper into the woods.

Nick sighed heavily. He was hungry. He had spoken to Luke briefly, who'd told him he was waiting for Clem to bring him a radio.

So she hadn't been eaten… maybe that little girl was tougher than she seemed.

They had decided Nick would stay close to the fence, and Luke would try be there if he could, possibly with something to eat.

There hadn't been any chance for Nick to jump over the fence, because Carver had placed more guards around the area where the glass was broken. A smart move. They had no idea whether it was safe for them to try somewhere else, and Luke had decided they shouldn't take too many risks.

Luke had looked terrible the last time Nick had seen him. He barely managed to keep his eyes open. Nick was worried about him.

Nick had been waiting for Luke all evening, but his friend still hadn't shown himself. Even though it had only been yesterday since he'd last seen him, it felt like years.

Perhaps it was too dangerous for him to come out, or maybe he was busy communicating with the rest, figuring out a plan…

Nick stopped walking when he felt like he put enough distance between him and the several lurkers roaming around the parking lot.

He felt like he was wasting his time here in the middle of the woods. Luke could have shown up near the fence by now, and Nick wouldn't be there.

He placed his hands on top of his hatless head and paced in circles. He hadn't slept at all last night. Maybe an hour before he awoke again, drenched in sweat because of nightmares. It surprised him how many nightmares he could have in just an hour of shallow sleep.

Sometimes they were about his uncle, or about how he was realistically bitten while he was sleeping, about Luke telling him he'd decided to join Carver after all, but most of his dreams had been about Cammie. They had almost all been terrible nightmares. Cammie dying in front of him, Cammie dying _because_ of him, Cammie kissing someone else not because they made her, but because she wanted to…

But whenever he felt the nightmares take control of him, he thought of that one dream, the dream in which he relived the moment she'd kissed him. Only she hadn't been drenched in blood, dead bodies hadn't surrounded them and they weren't in a creepy abandoned lodge, but in a meadow. There was only sunshine, flowers, she and him…

He shook his head._ When did I start dreaming like a fucking 6-year-old girl, sunshine and flowers…?! What the fuck is wrong with me?_

Cammie had told him how she'd slept in the open by climbing trees. He knew that if he'd try he'd fall out, so he hadn't tried, but instead watched through the rest of the night until sunrise.

Because he was tired, he was incredibly on edge. Even though he was always careful, he was extra careful that moment. Every shadow reeked of danger. Every sound sounded like death, and every movement felt like a threat.

He jumped up at the sound of a raven flying away from behind a bush.

He softly hit himself three times. 'You're being too paranoid…' he whispered.

He started making his way back to the fence, but flinched when he heard something behind him.

When he turned around, nothing was there. The evening light seeping through the thick leaves, and illuminated one small spot in the middle of the clearing.

Had he imagined it?

When he started walking again, he was certain he heard another rustling noise. He turned around once more and noticed his shallow breathing was very loud.

He held in his breath and scanned the trees, ready to jump up at any sight of movement, but there was none. Yet he had the strong feeling he was being watched.

It started getting dark. He had no light, and soon he wouldn't be able to find his way back to Howe's.

He rubbed in his tired eyes. He was just imagining things. If he wouldn't move soon he'd be in trouble.

When he started walking though, he heard the sound of a snapping branch close to him. He kept walking. The sounds of the rustling leaves got closer and closer to him. He began walking faster as the sounds grew near, but he couldn't seem to get rid of them.

Where was Howe's? He should have been there already…

He panicked, was he walking in circles? Hadn't he seen this tree before?

Where was he?

The sounds drew near. Did he hear someone breathing close to his ear or was it the wind?

He kept running. _Where the fuck is Howe's?_

It got darker as the forest got thicker. _Where the hell am I?_

Nick tripped over a root and landed on his chest. His ankle hurt! He'd heard a crack, but he didn't want to consider the possibility it was broken. _I just sprained it, I just sprained it, I gotta keep moving. _ He kept repeating it determined in his head, hoping his ankle would accept it as the truth. The eerie sound got caught up with him.

Pushing his already tired body to its limits he pushed himself up and ran even faster than before, trying to get rid of whatever followed him. He didn't dare look back.

Trees rushed by as he ran, every tree looked like a lurker.

He was hungry, he was tired, he was scared.

Finally he saw a light in the distance. A small glimpse of hope in the darkness. Without hesitation he dashed towards it. He couldn't run anymore. He needed sleep. The very last meters he stumbled towards the light.

Everything got vague because of his lack of air. His uneven breathing was loud compared to the quiet forest. He was still chased by the sounds that got louder and louder as he ran faster.

But suddenly when he pushed the bushes aside,

He stood at the edge of the parking lot.

He stopped running at once and bent over to catch his breath. Sweat dropped from his face to the ground. He wanted to straighten his hat with his hand, but touched the air.

_Right… no hat anymore. _He still had to get used to it.

Still panting he turned around to face what had chased him down, but there was noting. Nothing but the dark forest behind him.

He squeezed his eyes when he thought he saw a figure lurking from behind a tree.

His curiosity won from common sense, and he carefully approached the tree.

He couldn't resist the urge. 'Cammie?' he asked hopefully, but the only answer came from the cold breeze that chilled him to the bone. Apart from that the forest was as quiet as it always was, as it should be. Where he thought he'd seen a person was nothing.

When he looked up at Howe's, his eyes met those of a person up the roof. His thoughts were numb, and he recognized the eyes too late.

As soon as his tired body could react he threw himself behind a wall.

His heartbeat so loud he was afraid she could hear him from up the roof.

_Bonnie has seen me. She looked straight at me._

He pressed a cold hand against his warm face and sighed desperately.

_I'm fucked._


	20. Reading Comic Books

**Hi guys,**

**I'm sorry it took me so long to update, the past few weeks have been quite hectic for me...**

**I was originally planning to have the first half of this chapter from Nick's, and the second half from Cammie's perspective, but it got a bit too long so I've decided not to do that, perhaps some other time... ;)**

**hope you'll enjoy, leave a review to tell me what I can improve!**

* * *

**Reading Comic Books**

_Has she really seen me?_

It was the question Nick had asked himself about a million times that afternoon. After he had seen Bonnie, he hadn't run back into the woods. With whatever he'd encountered in there earlier he felt a lot safer at Howe's parking lot, even though he wasn't even sure if something had really been there or not. He was so tired and hungry he might as well have imagined it.

Nick paced around in circles, as he always did when he was thinking. It definitely didn't look good for him, and if he was found, would they assume Luke was somewhere too?

He had been seen. He didn't want to accept the terrible truth, but he had no choice. He was ready to give up, but no one had come for him yet. Bonnie had seen him. He was sure of it. He had looked her straight in the eyes and he had seen her surprised expression. She had always been so loyal to Carver, had even refused to come with them when they escaped. Why wouldn't she betray him? It wasn't as if they'd had an amazing friendship or anything…

He stopped pacing around and looked at the building hopefully, as if expecting to see an orange vest appearing somewhere.

Where was Luke? Why hadn't he flagged him down like he was supposed to?

Nick anxiously sat down against a wall, chewing his nails while asking himself these same questions over and over again.

He had to do something. He felt so worthless. He couldn't just sit there, but he was scared. Scared of Carver, scared of what he might have done to Luke.

Nick shook his head and pushed himself up.

He suppressed a groan when accidentally putting too much weight on his ankle. It had been about and hour, maybe two since he'd injured it and it had swollen quite since.

He gasped for air and pressed his back against the wall when he heard voices from behind the wooden barricade.

He closed his eyes shut. He felt like a toddler playing hide and seek. But even if you close your eyes, it doesn't mean they can't see you…

A door slammed shut and Nick could clearly hear their conversation.

'I heard they found her sneaking around the building.'

'Who, the brown haired girl?'

'Yeah.'

'What did she have with her?'

'Not much, only a knife I think.'

A terrible idea formed itself in Nick's head.

_Cammie_

A memory popped up in his head, the first time he'd heard her speak. She'd corrected him when he thought her dagger was a knife.

His hart, that had been pounding wildly a second before, almost stopped beating when he realized the terrible, but certainly possible truth.

'More and more people to add to the community.' One voice said.

'More slaves you mean…' another voice mumbled in response.

'Don't let him hear you say that!' The first voice snapped.

'Hell, I talked about it with Tavia yesterday; she admitted it was hard not to call them prisoners. Carver _locks_ them _up_ in the yard!'

'All I know, is that we'll end up just like that if we say stuff like that out loud. So shut up about it when you're around me will ya?!'

The people walked past him, opened another door and the conversation silenced when it closed with a loud bang, leaving Nick outside with a mind full of fear.

It couldn't be her! she was somewhere safe up north. He knew she was. He had left her on the road, shouted at her, hurt her, he had seen the pain in her eyes. Why would she come after him?

He ran his hands through his messy hair. He was being stupid, he was jumping to the wrong conclusions, any girl with brown hair and a knife could sneak around a building. And yet before he knew it, he pushed the blue container towards the wooden walls.

_What if it was her?_

He climbed on top of the container, ignoring his throbbing ankle, and jumped over the barricade.

A small yelp of pain escaped his sealed jaws when he landed on his feet.

At once he was back at the place of his nightmares.

He looked around, and quickly made a run to what probably used to be a comic bookstore, judging by the big carton figurine in the window. It seemed like a safe enough place, no one had entered it the entire day for as far as he'd been able to tell while standing watch next to the wooden walls.

Once inside, he quietly shut the two glass doors behind him, and hid out of the sight of any passing by people. There was no going back now.

When he'd established he was well out of sight, he looked around at where he was. The comic bookstore looked as if lurkers had overrun it several times before.

It definitely wasn't a place he wanted to hide for a while. Old bloodstains marred the tiled floor, clusters big brown boxes were scattered around the room, making it seem as if the store had been moving right before the apocalypse, the windows were barred with wooden planks, leaving the entire place in a dark and creepy light and the little furniture or comic books the place had once had were long taken away. All that, left the place with a sad and deserted atmosphere.

Back when Nick had still been part of Carver's community this side of the complex had been lurker territory they would win later. The community had come quite a way since, leaving him with the great disadvantage of not knowing where he was, or how to get to the yard at all.

He frowned when he discovered some sort of improvised bed in the darkest corner of the back of the store.

Who would want to sleep in a place like this? Who _could_ sleep in a place like this? And why would they hide the bed in a dark corner like this one? All he knew, was that it had to be someone without Carver's permission who would, and he could only think of one person in the entire complex with the guts to go against Carver's will; _Luke_.

It made sense; this was where Luke had jumped over the barricade. But the fact he wasn't there got Nick anxious. Why wouldn't Luke stay where he was and try get some sleep when he could? What would he be doing outside of one of the safest places in the complex?

His own stomach gave him the answer to that last question when it growled loudly. His last meal had been a big can of beans with Cammie, almost two days ago.

He sighed. Almost two days already… Keeping track of time only made him feel hungrier, but Luke had to be worse. His last meal, according to him, had been a few days ago. He had to be incredibly hungry by now.

He realized he had been terribly wrong about no one entering the comic bookstore, when he heard the doors open. He hid in the shadow, held in his breath and prayed to God that he wouldn't be found.

The footsteps didn't sound heavy like Troy's, but instead soft, and quiet. Kind of like the way Cammie always walked.

'Luke...?' a tiny voice whispered. 'Luke, it's me Clementine, it's safe to come out.' Clementine whispered, a bit louder this time.

Nick's hart flowed over with relief.

'Luke! Where is he…?' Clementine mumbled in herself.

Nick moved from the shadows. 'Don't scream.' He quietly ordered.

Clementine gasped for air when she saw him, and Nick could see her eyes widen, even in the dim light.

'Nick!' she whispered in disbelieve. 'You- but how- we were… I thought you were dead!' she finally concluded.

He smiled faintly. 'Let's talk about that later. Listen, this is very important okay? You need to tell me where Luke is.'

Clem rolled her eyes at his condescending tone. 'I don't know where he is. I was supposed to give him this.' She got a walky-talky from the pockets of her bright blue jacket.

Nick jumped up when he heard the doors open, and Clementine quickly stuffed the device back into her pocket.

An angry Troy stood in the door's opening. 'I swear to Christ you're gonna regret this!' he screamed.

He walked towards her, and slapped Clementine across the face. The smack sounded loudly through the small store.

'You ain't supposed to be out here!' he made an attempt to grab Clem's the back of Clem's head, and violently drag her out of the store, but Nick lunged himself towards Troy.

The latter fell on the floor, obviously dazed by that amount of power out of nowhere, before reaching for the gun around his neck and pointing it at him. When his eyes met Nick's he was so surprised dropped his arm. For a moment he was speechless.

'What the fuck…' he mumbled. 'Nick?!' he got up and pointed his gun at Nick's back. He smiled an evil smile and pushed him towards the open doors. 'You're comin' with me.'

Nick sighed. It was over.

Just before they reached the doors, Troy seemed to remember Clem, who was still standing in the back of the store rubbing the cheek where he'd hit her, angrily.

'You're comin' to, and don't even think 'bout doin' something, cause I'll fuckin' blow your head off if I feel like I should!' he nodded towards his gun with his head.

Clementine squeezed her eyes and followed, not knowing whether or not Troy was crazy enough to actually do something like that, which Nick knew he was.

Troy seemed to be in a great mood because of what he was about to present to Carver. Nick almost expected him to hum a song.

Two people stood in the area barricaded by the wooden walls. A black guy around Nick's age, and an older man with a beard. Nick peeked through a crack in passing, and wished he was on the other side of those walls again.

'What happened?' the man with the beard asked.

Nick immediately recognized his voice as the one that had drawn the lurkers, and had caused the glass to break.

'MOVE!' Troy screamed angrily.

'Hey!' the loud man responded, but after giving the gun one look, he bowed his head, and silently walked after Nick, who was still pushed forward by the nose of Troy's weapon. Nick looked around when they entered the main building. Everything now looked much more secure, but he could see the food supplies were clearly less. Way more people than he could remember ever being in the community turned their heads and looked to look at the new prisoner.

'Hey dude.' A voice he recognized as Wyatt's said from behind him. Nick wanted to respond out of reflexes, but almost tripped over a cable, causing the group to stop walking.

'Just fuckin' walk,' Troy shouted in his ear agitated, 'how hard is it?!'

When they finally arrived at the yard, Nick saw a cluster of people in the middle of the room. 'Get over there.' Troy said, while pointing at the group.

Nick was pushed in.

Carver was pacing around, surrounded by a few anxious people Nick didn't know, and Carlos sat on the floor next to… Nick turned his head to see, next to Luke, who had blood and a beaten expression on his face.

Nick's heart dropped a few feet. He'd kind of expected it, but as long as he hadn't been sure, he didn't _want_ to consider the possibility Luke had been caught. Now here they were. Both caught. Now it really was over.

'…and how is it, that we're repaid for our trust? With treachery…? With deceit…? With theft!'

Carlos pressed a hand against Luke's chest. Luke looked terribly beaten up. Nick grimaced, but was afraid to make a sound. His nightmare was pacing around the room before him.

Carver held up the walky-talky and waved it around. 'Whatever you were planning is over… it's done.' He looked around the room until his eyes met Nick's. He didn't show any sign of surprise, but instead looked at Troy who's face lit up proudly.

_The smug…_

Carver didn't even have to ask before Troy started talking.

'Found the two of em'' he made a vague gesture towards him and Clementine, 'Hidin' in that old comic bookstore.'

Carver held up his hand and kept looking at Nick as he slowly walked towards him without letting go of his gaze. Troy shut his mouth immediately.

Nick gulped, and felt the fear throughout his entire body. He trembled, but didn't want to show any sign of being afraid, so he pushed his chest forward and squeezed his eyes when Carver got closer and closer.

'Nick…' he said in that frightening low voice. 'How nice of you to join us.'

Nick braced himself and closed his eyes when Carver lashed out with his fist.


	21. The Plan

**The Plan**

_The moment Carver's fist hit Nick's face, Cammie jumped out of her tree, a few miles away from the Howe's Hardware complex. Any normal girl her age would have been afraid, any person in their right mind would have been afraid. Afraid of the walking corpses, the crazy people out there… but she wasn't. _

* * *

When finally,_ finally_ the walking dead left me alone, I found myself at the base of the tree I'd spent several hours in, alone in the big green forest once again.

The herd was a few miles ahead of me now, but as long as I knew Nick had gone that very same way I couldn't feel relieved.

The tracks were gone. Not even the car tracks were visible anymore, trampled by the thousands of footsteps the dead had made in the mud.

Luckily the road continued down one straight line for as far as I could see, and I'd also seen a building in the distance, the one I'd marked as my next stop.

I looked at the sun disappearing behind the trees. I wouldn't have much more light. Maybe an hour, and then I'd have to stumble my way through the darkness. What a lovely prospect…

I stretched my arms above my head and sighed. Siting in the same quiet position for almost two full hours was unbearable. Throwing myself down to meet the hungry lurkers had almost sounded more pleasant than the torture of sitting in that cramped position.

I gave the corpse of a dead lurker next to my feet an uninterested look while determining whether or not I thought I would be making it to the large building. I decided I at least had to try before it got too dark. Maybe it would be a good place to spent the night…

But just as I started walking, I thought I heard something. A rustling noise, like a bird digging through the dead fall leaves looking for worms.

When I stood still, the noise silenced. Far away there was some moaning and gargling in the distance. My hand moved towards my dagger out of instinct. The frayed grip felt reassuring in my hand.

Just a wandering lurker lost from the herd… I told myself. No big deal, and too far away to be any concern of mine.

The fact it was so far away however, worried me. How could I hear something right behind me if the only lurker within the area sounded so far away?

I ran in a wide circle to scare away any birds hiding behind the bushes, but when I did, nothing flew up… instead, I heard more rustling behind the trees, or so it seemed.

But when I turned around there was nothing but forest.

I walked back a few steps to look at the mud and see if I was followed, but no other footprints had joined mine since I'd jumped out of the tree.

I shook my head and walked on. The forest got darker and darker as time passed, and I couldn't get rid of the feeling I was being watched. It felt eerie, walking in a forest when it was so dark. It felt like anything could be about to attack me.

My heart stopped beating for a second when I heard a creepy sound. Loud, rapid breathing from somewhere behind me.

My first reaction would be to run, or climb a tree, but I ignored the urge and stopped walking. This forest was creepy enough without some freak with asthma stalking me.

'Hello?' I asked. No answer. 'Who's there?' my voice sounded incredibly loud through the dark forest, but the only thing I heard was the vague moaning of the herd I almost caught up with somewhere along the path.

But then, I saw it.

Two big yellow eyes glared at me from the darkness.

* * *

All Nick could remember before losing consciousness was closing his eyes, hearing a sickening crack, and then drifting away.

The first thing he became aware of was a monster headache. It felt just like those mornings after an evening with Luke and some beer.

Slowly he regained the feeling in his stiff arms and legs. He realized he was lying on his back on the cold hard floor, but he didn't feel the strength to move. It was as if he was trapped in his own body.

His eyelids quivered. As soon as he managed to open his eyes, he was greeted by a strong pain in his nose and left eye.

Still lying on his back he carefully lifted his arm to touch his nose, but as soon as his fingers softly touched it, he groaned because of an immense pain pulling throughout his entire face. With a sigh he dropped his arm, and looked around where he was.

For as far as he could see from lying on his back, he was still in Howe's hardware complex.

Suddenly everything came back to him, and he sat bold upright.

It was dark around him, but the others had built a fire, so he forced himself up, and limped towards one of the gardening chairs. His ankle still hurt like hell. His head, his eye, his nose, his ankle the list kept getting longer.

He sat down and looked at Luke who hadn't even noticed him, or was too disappointed in him to look up. Nick felt like he didn't deserve self-pity, Luke looked much worse than he did. He sat bent over, his arm in front of his chest as if he had a stomachache, his face was pale, apart from a few red bruises that had started turning purple already.

Nick looked at the others sitting around the fireplace, they weren't really paying any attention to him. Close to him, there was a woman with a light green jacket crying her eyes out. Rebecca, always recognizably by her pregnant body, sat next to her while occasionally whispering comforting things.

Sarah stood close by the fire warming her hands. She had seen Nick get up, and had looked at him curiously, but as soon as he looked over at the shy teen she shifted her gaze away from him and stared at the fire. Her glasses mirrored the light, making it difficult for him to see her eyes.

Nick looked over to Luke once more, who apparently still hadn't noticed him. He couldn't take it anymore. 'Hey.' He mumbled to his friend. Luke's head turned his way, and to his relieve, the look on Luke's face wasn't angry. He just seemed tired, tired of all of it.

'Hey man…' he mumbled back. For a moment they were quiet, the only sound they heard was that of the woman sobbing, and Rebecca telling her it would be all right.

'Listen I'm-' he started, but Luke held up his hand and Nick stopped talking.

'It's my fault,' he mumbled with a sad expression on his tired face. 'I got reckless, I was so hungry I-' he sighed. 'I got caught tryin' to steal some food. If it weren't for me we coulda made it out… I'm such an idiot.'

'I shouldn't 'a gone lookin' for you…' Nick answered. He was glad his friend didn't blame him, even though Luke hadn't been the first reason he had jumped over the barricade.

He turned his head, and immediately found what he was looking for, but not _who _he was looking for. In the darkest corner, as far away from the fire as possible, stood a brown haired girl around Cammie's age. When she realized he was looking at her she glared at him, and he quickly turned this head. He didn't even have to ask her if she had a knife to know he had been wrong. Around her waist hung the hilt of some sort of knife. She wasn't Cammie. He'd been wrong. He felt glad and horrible at the same time. He didn't have to be caught, he could've given everyone a chance to make it out, but he wasted that chance in a rash action. Of course Cammie couldn't have been here.

But Cammie was still somewhere safe. That filled him with a warm feeling inside. She was somewhere safe up north. _Probably…_

'Who's she?' he asked Luke quietly.

'Who?' Luke asked, as if he hadn't seen her.

'That girl?'

'Oh that's Jane.' Luke answered as he gave her a sideways glance. 'I don't know what's the deal with her. Hasn't said a thing since I first saw her.'

Luke looked up when Clementine joined the circle around the fire. She had a scratch on her chin.

Clem looked at Nick's face and frowned as if she saw an overrun bird on the road.

'What?' he asked her. It occurred to him he still sounded a bit hostile towards the little girl, but he didn't change his grim facial expression, partially because he felt like crap after the whole being caught thing, and because it hurt to move his face.

She seemed to hesitate and squeezed her eyes. 'You're not wearing your hat anymore.' Se finally said when she sat down in one of the chairs. Nick scratched his head and shrugged. He knew it had been something else, something about his face. Maybe it looked as bad as it felt. He couldn't care less.

Luke got up and walked towards the door to join the black guy Nick had heard fighting with the man with the beard. The two of them were talking quietly to someone on the other side of the door. As soon as they walked back, Rebecca looked up from the crying woman.

'Mike, what'd she say?' she asked eagerly.

'She said she could get us out of the pen if we can get the PA system going. Second she hears it she'll run over and spring us.' Mike said as Luke sat down in the chair again.

'That's great!' Rebecca said.

'It's not great.' Luke said quietly without looking up.

'What are you talking about?' Rebecca asked him.

Nick also raised an eyebrow. He knew the plan in big lines, using the herd to get out. Getting away sounded like music to his ears. He'd been back at the community for a few hours, and he already felt like a bird in a cage.

'Why isn't it great?' Clem asked.

'Because it's risky like hell.' He answered, as he looked her straight in the eyes.

Nick looked sideways at him, maybe he was right, the two of them had seen the herd it was bigger than any herd he'd ever seen. 'It is pretty damn risky guys.' He said as he looked around the circle.

'Risky, did you see what that sonuvabitch just did? Look, the plan works. Nothing needs to change. It's all set up. This guy's fucking crazy, who knows what he'll do next.'

Nick had to agree with him on that, but he didn't know what sounded more appealing, throwing himself in a herd of flesh-eating monsters, or staying in this rundown hardware store ruled by a crazy dictator. Neither sounded too great.

'Yeah, but now we're dealing with a guy beat to shit, Sarita in no shape to do anything, I'm a goddamn mess, and… and Nick…' He made a vague gesture towards Nick, it annoyed him. Luke acted as if just him was enough reason to ruin the entire plan. It hurt him how little Luke seemed to trust him.

'Thanks a lot man.' He mumbled, as he surly looked the other way.

He could feel Luke's eyes burning on him. 'But it's true, he beat you up as well!' he said while he looked at Nick's face with a pained expression. He started sounding more desperate. 'C'mon man, Nick, you know what's out there, we've seen it! Look, we should rest up okay, we should bide our chances and wait for an opening.' His voice cracked a bit. Luke was right.

'Bonnie's agreed to help us tonight!' Mike said angrily.

'But that doesn't mean she can't do it some OTHER night.' Luke responded.

'I don't know, guys… Luke's makin' sense. Maybe we should wait.' Nick said. He started thinking about what would happen if all of them were to just charge straight at the herd, and he knew that no matter what they did, their great escape would most likely end the same way anyhow.

'We're NOT waiting.' Rebecca said, in a tone that dared anyone to argue with her. She placed a hand on her stomach. A gesture he'd seen her make so many times. She seemed more eager to leave than anyone, and Nick knew she had her reasons.

'I'm just saying we need to be more sensible about this.' Luke said while he made reassuring gestures with his arms.

'Where's Kenny?' Clem's tiny voice suddenly changed the subject.

Nick turned to look at her.

'Doc's over there workin' on him. It don't look good.' Luke responded as he looked down at the floor. Nick knew how much his friend hated being the barer of bad news.

Nick shifted his gaze over to the other end of the room. He hadn't even seen Carlos, but now he noticed their personal doctor was working on the man with the beard who lay unconscious on some sort of stretcher.

As they spoke Carlos turned his back to Kenny and walked towards them. Sarita looked up at him with the tears blinking in her eyes.

Nick had to try really hard to not think about Cammie's eyes when he'd last seen her, but he couldn't help seeing her in front of him like that. He would never be able to forget that.

'This is what I'm talking about.' Luke sighed.

'Can I see him?' Clem asked insecurely.

'I… don't think that's a good idea.' Carlos mumbled in response. 'His orbital is crushed… I don't think there's much hope for the eye…'

Nick kept looking at the guy on the other end of the room. Apparently Carver hadn't unleashed his full fury on Nick. He carefully touched his nose and thanked God he still had both his eyes. This proved even more he wasn't allowed to feel sorry for himself.

'I got him as stable as I could,' Carlos continued, 'cleaned it, got some of the swelling down, bandaged it the best I could… but until he wakes up… we won't know if there's any damage to the brain…'

Sarita broke into tears again.

'Fuck…' Luke whispered. 'Okay look, maybe I'm just playin' devil's advocate here, but if… dammit, if y'all are serious about goin' tonight then we're gonna have to start talkin' about maybe… leavin' some folks behind.'

'No!' Sarita said horrified as she lifted her face from her hands.

'There's no other way.'

'This is bullshit.' Rebecca mumbled.

The argument went on, but Nick stopped paying attention when Carlos tapped his shoulder. 'Nick, I haven't been able to look at it yet, but I can tell straight away that nose is broken.' He said quietly in his heavy Spanish accent.

Nick gulped. 'I'm fine…' he mumbled.

'No, you're not fine.' The stubborn doctor responded. 'I have to straighten it for you, otherwise it won't heal properly, but only hurt more.'

Nick sighed. For some reason this didn't sound appealing. 'Guess I don't really have a say in this?' he asked with a vague smile.

'Not if you want to keep it from getting infected.' Carlos answered without smiling back.

Nick nodded.

They walked away from the group, Sarah followed closely behind, her shoulders raised high, a sign she was not feeling comfortable. Nick felt sorry for her.

'D-dad?' Sarah asked as she tugged her dad's sleeve.

'Not now Sarah, I'm busy.' Carlos said.

'But… but… they're… fighting…' she mumbled as she pointed at the group. Luke 's voice coud be heard above the others. He really was a leader type. Nick envied him. He wished he was more like Luke, able to leave every painful experience behind to just… move on.

'Just close your eyes sweetie, it will all be over soon…' Carlos said. Nick almost thought he ws talking to him, so he turned his head, but saw Carlos bending over as he petted her air with a bandaged hand. Nick didn't even want to know what had happened to him and his hand.

'Just go talk to Clementine, I'll be done in a second.' Sarah nodded as she walked towards the girl her age. And yet, Clem seemed so much more grown up than Sarah.

Carlos looked at him, Nick sighed.

Just man up… he told himself. Carlos brought his good hand towards Nick's face.

'This might hurt a little.' He said, but before Nick could respond with a sarcastic '_I know_' he heard another sickening crack like a bone breaking, as Carlos pushed his nose back in place.

It hurt real badly, but Nick had to be strong. The others were in way worse condition right that moment, he couldn't be whining about something as silly as a broken nose when Kenny might have possible brain damage.

He immediately felt blood coming out of his nose. It dripped to the ground. Carlos grabbed his hand and showed him how to make the bleeding stop. He handed him a handkerchief, and Nick pushed against his nose.

'Alright, that should do it.' Carlos mumbled. 'As for that eye, it will hurt for a while, and it will eventually seem dramatic, but it will look worse than it is.'

Nick nodded. 'Thanks.' He mumbled as he went back to join the group. He'd had a black eye before, when he fought with some bullies in school, no big deal. What he was worried about was his ankle. He tried hard not to limp, because he didn't want Carlos to diagnose him with a broken foot. He was already a burden as it was, no need for the others to get even more worried. He clenched his jaws. His entire face felt as if it had been trampled by elephants…

He saw Carlos walking towards his daughter, and he put a reassuring arm around her. The rest of the group was still in a heated argument of whether or not to escape tonight.

'No, we're not leaving Kenny!' Clem shouted quietly.

'I don't like it either Clem, but it's where we're at. No one wants to leave Kenny behind.' Luke responded as he desperately looked at her, hoping to hear her say she understood.

'Good cause… you won't have to.' Nick turned around.

There he stood, the loud man with the beard. Only now, his face was full of scratches, and he was wearing an eye patch. Nick really respected that old man.

'Plan don't change.' Kenny said in that same decided tone as Rebecca. 'We leave tonight.'

* * *

**Hey guys,**

**Sorry if I'm sticking to much to the game's plot right now, that will probably change soon.**

**Hope you're enjoying it so far, leave a review if you did ;)**


End file.
